2017 Britax Infant Car Seat Recall: Britax B-Safe 35, Britax B-Safe 35 Elite and BOB B-Safe 35
Britax announced a recall today in cooperation with National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) and other regulatory authorities. This recall involves the chest clip on certain B-Safe 35, B-Safe 35 Elite and BOB B-Safe 35 infant car seat models manufactured between Nov. 1, 2015 and May 31, 2017, as identified on www.bsafe35clip.com. Over 200,000 units may be affected.
Britax has determined that the center tab on the chest clip – on certain rear-facing only car seat models – can break presenting a choking hazard to an infant in the car seat. There have been no choking injuries reported.
Users can continue to safely use the affected car seats if they remove the chest clip or monitor the center tab of the chest clip for signs of breakage. The chest clip is not a required safety device: it is added to the harness system to help position the shoulder straps.
Please visit www.bsafe35clip.com where you can follow these steps:
- Look for the Date of Manufacture (DOM) label on the back of the infant car seat shell.
- Compare the DOM details to the model numbers and date range listed on the site.
- If your seat is affected and you registered your seat, you will automatically be sent a free replacement chest clip.
- If your seat is affected and you didn’t register your seat, you can order your free kit on www.bsafe35clip.com.
- Until you receive your replacement chest clip, you can continue to safely use the car seat as long as you remove your current chest clip or monitor the center tab of the chest clip for signs of breakage.
- Before installing the new replacement chest clip, review the printed step-by-step instructions and/or watch the how-to video on the site.
- Please do not return product to the retailer.
Model/Serial Numbers Affected
| Products | Model Numbers | Dates of Manufacture
(YYYY/MM/DD) |
| B-Safe 35 & Travel Systems
|
US: E1A183F, E1A185M, E1A185P, E1A186R, E1A203F, E1A205M, E1A205P, E1A206X, E1A206Z, E1A207E, E9LU65V, E9LU66X, E9LU66Z, E9LU67D, E9LU67E, EXA185M
S02063600, S02063700, S03803400, S03803500, S03803700, S03803800, S03803900, S04144400, S04144500, S04144600, S04145000, S04402800, S04884200, S04884300, S04975600, S04978900, S05260200, S06020300, S06020400, S06020500, S06020600, S06020700, S06020800, S06020900, S06147100, S921800
CANADA: E1A193F, E1A195M, E1A195P, E1A196X, E1A196Z, E9LV16R, E9LV17D S04144700, S04144800, S04144900, S04183700, S04183800, S04437700, S04884400, S04884500, S06051400, S06051500, S06051600, S06051700, S06051800
ISRAEL: E1A233F, E1A235M, E1A235P, E1A236X |
November 1, 2015 (2015/11/01) through
May 31, 2017 (2017/05/31) |
| B-Safe 35 Elite & Travel Systems
|
US: E1A215T, E1A215U, E1A216P, E1A221Q, E1A225C, E1A225U, E1A226L, E9LS51Q, E9LS56C, E9LS56L, E9LS57F, E9LS57G, E9LS57H, EXA216L
S01298600, S02063800, S02063900, S02064000, S04281200, S04281300, S04628500, S06018800, S06020000, S06020200, S06051300, S923700
CANADA: E9LV21Q, E9LV26C, E9LV26L, E9LV27F, E9LV27G, E9LV2Q8 S01298700, S04184000
ISRAEL: E9LT15U, E9LT16C, E9LT16L |
|
| BOB B-Safe 35 by Britax
|
US: E9LT34A, E9LT34C, E9LT35X, EXLT34A
CANADA: E9LT54A, E9LT54C, E9LT55X |
Chest Clip Tab may Break and be a Choking Hazard The broken tab may present a choking hazard to an infant in the car seat, increasing the risk of injury.
NHTSA Campaign Number: 17C002000
Manufacturer Britax Child Safety, Inc.
Components CHILD SEAT
Potential Number of Units Affected 207,037
Summary
Britax Child Safety, Inc. (Britax) is recalling certain B-Safe 35, B-Safe 35 Travel Systems, B-Safe 35 Elite, B-Safe 35 Elite Travel Systems and BOB B-Safe rear-facing infant child safety seats, model numbers E1A183F, E1A185M, E1A185P, E1A186R, E1A203F, E1A205M, E1A205P, E1A206X, E1A206Z, E1A207E, E9LU65V, E9LU66X, E9LU66Z, E9LU67D, E9LU67E, EXA185M, S02063600, S02063700, S03803400, S03803500, S03803700, S03803800, S03803900, S04144400, S04144500, S04144600, S04145000, S04402800, S04884200, S04884300, S04975600, S04978900, S05260200, S06020300, S06020400, S06020500, S06020600, S06020700, S06020800, S06020900, S06147100, S921800, E1A215T, E1A215U, E1A216P, E1A221Q, E1A225C, E1A225U, E1A226L, E9LS51Q, E9LS56C, E9LS56L, E9LS57F, E9LS57G, E9LS57H, EXA216L, S01298600, S02063800, S02063900, S02064000, S04281200, S04281300, S04628500, S06018800, S06020000, S06020200, S923700, E9LT34A, E9LT34C, E9LT35X and EXLT34A. The affected child safety seats have a center tab on the chest clip marked “ABS” that may break.
Remedy
Britax will notify owners and will provide a replacement chest clip marked “PC”, free of charge. The recall is expected to begin June 21, 2017. Owners may contact Britax at 1-833-474-7016 or visit www.bsafe35clip.com.
Notes
Owners may also contact the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration Vehicle Safety Hotline at 1-888-327-4236 (TTY 1-800-424-9153), or go to www.safercar.gov.
You may continue to use the seat by removing the chest clip as it is not a required safety device….. um then why do we have it and why do we have to make sure it is in the correct location? As a tech if someone came in without the clip i would be very confussed and don’t think I would believe them if they told me the mfg told them it was ok….
Chest clips are not required by federal motor vehicle standards in the USA. In fact, in Europe, most harnessed carseats do not come with a chest clip at all.
https://carseatblog.com/24861/
That’s not to say it isn’t important. Think of a chest clip like side impact wings around the head, or one-hand front harness height adjusters, or many other optional safety and convenience features found on many carseats. Even though they aren’t required, these features may still provide a benefit for safety or ease-of-use.
A chest clip is definitely helpful as a way to help correctly position the harness straps on the shoulders before a crash. This may be of more importance if the harness is otherwise too loose or incorrectly adjusted, as this is often a major misuse we observe. In theory, if the harness is correctly adjusted, the chest clip would serve very little purpose, except perhaps to make it a little more difficult for a squirmy child to move the straps off their shoulders.