Investigations
Child Seat Harness Buckle
NHTSA Engineering Analysis EA13001 - closed, opened 2013-02-21.
NHTSA investigation EA13001 is a Engineering Analysis opened on 2013-02-21 and currently closed. The subject is tracked inside the Office of Defects Investigation queue. Latest activity on this investigation was logged on 2014-12-01 - NHTSA updates that field whenever an Information Request goes out, a supplement is filed, or a status change is recorded in the public docket.
An Engineering Analysis like EA13001 is the deeper technical phase that follows a PE. NHTSA requests design, warranty, and field-failure data from the manufacturer, conducts its own testing when needed, and determines whether the evidence supports a safety defect finding that would compel a recall.
Investigators summarized the matter as follows: "The Office of Defects Investigation (ODI) opened this investigation as PE12-031 on October 15, 2012 to investigate harness buckles in car seats produced by Graco Children's Products, Inc. (Graco). During the investigatio..." Investigations are the early-warning layer of the federal auto-safety system, sitting upstream of formal recalls and defect orders. Whether this one closes without action or escalates into an Engineering Analysis, the full history stays in the ODI archive so researchers, litigators, and buyers can pull the paper trail at any time.
Investigation Summary
The Office of Defects Investigation (ODI) opened this investigation as PE12-031 on October 15, 2012 to investigate harness buckles in car seats produced by Graco Children's Products, Inc. (Graco). During the investigation ODI discovered that Graco used three different harness buckle designs in the manufacture of certain booster, convertible, and rear facing infant (RFI) car seats produced between 2005 and 2014. The three buckle designs are identified as the "Signature", "QT", and "QT3" which were all manufactured by AmSafe Commercial Products, Inc. All three buckles use unique internal latch components and operate differently, and all have different release button designs. On February 7, 2014, Graco submitted a Defect Information Report (DIR) to recall 3,773,379 toddler and booster seats produced with the buckles described above. On March 7, 2014, Graco amended the DIR adding an additional 403,222 toddler and booster seats in the recall. Please see safety recall 14C-001 for details related to the recall. On June 27, 2014, Graco submitted a second DIR recalling 1,910,102 RFI car seats produced with the QT1 buckle. This DIR also stated that Graco would conduct a Customer Satisfaction Campaign (CSC) to replace the Signature and QT3 buckles used on the non-recalled RFI models for the useful life of the car seat (seven years from the date of manufacture). Under the CSC, users of the non-recalled car seats can obtain a replacement buckle, free of charge, should they have a concern with their buckle. In addition to the approximately 6.1 million recalled car seats, the CSC covers approximately 2.3 million RFI car seats. Please see safety recall 14C-004 for additional details of the recall and CSC. ODI is closing this investigation based on Graco's recall and CSC actions to replace the buckles in all of the car seats it produced with Signature, QT1 and QT3 buckles. Additional information concerning the investigation can be found in the closing report available on SaferCar
About This Investigation Type
An Engineering Analysis (EA) is the in-depth phase following a Preliminary Evaluation. NHTSA engineers conduct testing, collect data from manufacturers, and perform detailed technical analysis to determine whether a safety defect exists. An EA may lead to a voluntary recall by the manufacturer or, in rare cases, a mandatory recall order.
Data from NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation. Cross-references: NHTSA recall campaign API and NHTSA FARS where fatality records overlap. PlainCars does not rate or recommend vehicles. about how PlainCars sources NHTSA data.
Read our methodology - how this data is sourced, computed, and verified.