Investigations
Car Seat Harness Buckle
NHTSA Preliminary Evaluation PE14003 - closed, opened 2014-01-31.
NHTSA investigation PE14003 is a Preliminary Evaluation opened on 2014-01-31 and currently closed. The subject is tracked inside the Office of Defects Investigation queue. Latest activity on this investigation was logged on 2014-07-09 - NHTSA updates that field whenever an Information Request goes out, a supplement is filed, or a status change is recorded in the public docket.
A Preliminary Evaluation like PE14003 is the entry point of the federal defect-investigation process. NHTSA engineers scan complaint databases, field reports, and manufacturer data to decide whether an Engineering Analysis is warranted, whether a voluntary recall is already sufficient, or whether the pattern does not rise to a defect finding.
Investigators summarized the matter as follows: "On April 2, 2014 Evenflo notified the the agency that it would conduct a safety recall of 1,368,649 convertible and harness booster car seats manufactured with AmSafe QT and QT3 harness buckles. Evenflo specifically excl..." 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
On April 2, 2014 Evenflo notified the the agency that it would conduct a safety recall of 1,368,649 convertible and harness booster car seats manufactured with AmSafe QT and QT3 harness buckles. Evenflo specifically excluded from that recall the Embrace Rear Facing Infant car seats with AmSafe buckles. Please see recall 14C-003 for details of the recall. The Office of Defects Investigation (ODI) has upgraded this investigation to Engineering Analysis EA14-003 to focus on the Embrace Rear Facing Infant car seats produced with AmSafe buckles that were excluded from safety recall 14C-003. The ODI reports cited above, which were received through April 2, 2014, the date of Evenflo's Defect Information Report, can be reviewed at http://www-odi.nhtsa.dot.gov/owners/SearchSafetyIssues under the following (ODI) identification numbers: 10482687, 10483527, 10484695, 10502087, 10503896, 10521737, 10534021, 10542666, 10542864, 10546235, 10548880, 10549197, 10549573, 10554661, 10555117, 10559278, 10559771, 10560817, 10563917, 10563968, 10563986, 10564030, 10564056, 10564131, 10564342, 10564497, 10564498, 10564629, 10564938, 10565555, 10566042, 10567941, 10568751, 10568813, 10572823, 10573193, 10574313, 10588386, 10590412.
About This Investigation Type
A Preliminary Evaluation (PE) is the first phase of NHTSA's investigation process. It is opened when the agency identifies a potential safety defect pattern, usually triggered by consumer complaints, manufacturer reports, or field monitoring. During a PE, NHTSA gathers information to determine whether a formal engineering analysis is warranted.
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.