Imagine taking your toddler for a walk in a baby stroller. You open the stroller, securely fasten the safety belt, and then off the two of you go. However, your child suddenly begins screaming and you realize that your child’s finger has been caught in the stroller’s hinge and his or her fingertip has been chopped off. According to a recall notice issued by the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC), this is what happened to at least 11 different children.

Six children suffered full amputation of fingertips, four children suffered partial amputation of fingertips, and one child suffered a serious laceration. The product’s defect is in the hinge, which may not lock fully into place when opening up the stroller. Not only can a child’s fingers become caught in the open hinge, but the stroller may also begin to close with the baby still in it.

The recall involves 11 different models of strollers manufactured by Graco and Century. Moreover, the recall itself involves almost 5 million units sold in the United States, 202,000 sold in Canada, and 10,300 units sold in Mexico.

The strollers were manufactured between 2000 and 2014. All are single-occupant style and include the following models: Aspen, Breeze, Capri, Cirrus, Glider, Kite, LiteRider, Sierra, Solara, Sterling and TravelMate. Graco, however, is offering a hinge repair kit.

This is the second major recall that Graco has had to issue for baby products in less than a year. In February, the company was forced to recall over 4 million car seats after receiving numerous complaints of the safety buckles becoming locked up, and parents unable to remove their babies from the seats. Many parents were forced to actually cut the harnesses in order to get their child out of the seat, thus creating a very dangerous situation in the event of an accident in which a vehicle fire occurred.

If your child suffered a fingertip amputation caused by a Graco Stroller, contact an experienced Westport personal injury attorney to discuss your case and any legal recourse to which you may be entitled.

The minivan has become the quintessential family vehicle. Pull into any school during morning drop-off or afternoon pickup, and you will typically see a convoy of minivans lined up for this daily family routine. However, a new study has revealed that minivans, instead of keeping a family protected in a car accident, may actually be a deathtrap.

Minivan Safety Testing

The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) recently conducted testing on four of the most popular models of minivans. According to their findings, these tests revealed many of the “worst outcomes” for the types of test crashes the researchers conducted.

The four minivans modeled tested were Chrysler Town & Country, Dodge Grand Caravan (which is a twin to Chrylser’s model), Nissan Quest, and Toyota Sienna. Researchers wanted to determine how safe these vehicles are in small overlap front crashes. Overlap tests simulate what happens if a vehicle is hit in the front corner of the vehicle comes into contact with an object—such as another vehicle, utility pole or a tree.

According to the recent IIHS tests, three of the four minivans tested have critical flaws when it comes to protection from overlap crashes. Only the Toyota Sienna received an acceptable rating, although the IIHS report classified its structural performance as “subpar.”

Minivan Test Crash Results

When the Nissan Quest’s test crash occurred, the force of the impact pushed the lower hinge pillar in over two feet. The parking brake was moved over a foot-and-a-half towards the crash dummy in the driver’s seat, which trapped the dummy’s right foot between the toe pan and the brake pedal. The foot was wedged so deeply that the entire seat needed to be cut out and then technicians utilized a crowbar to free the foot. The dummy’s left leg was trapped between the instrumental panel and the seat. Additionally, when the airbag deployed, it smashed right into the dummy’s face. When testers measured the actual forces of the impact, especially along the length of the dummy’s left leg, there were areas where the force actually exceeded the amount the sensors could measure.

The Town & Country did no better in testing. The vehicle’s lower hinge pillar was pushed in 15 inches. The parking brake pedal gouged the dummy’s left leg and a steel brace from the under instrument panel tore the skin of the left knee of the dummy. The steering column and the door sill crushed towards the driver. Incredibly, when the vehicle’s front airbag deployed, it hit the crash dummy’s head, knocking it off and into the instrument panel. The side airbag offered little protection from the impact.

These tests crashes were performed at only 40 mph. Imagine if one of these crashes occurred with a family in the vehicle?

Contact a Compassionate Connecticut Wrongful Death Attorney

A vehicle collapsing on victims during an accident is unacceptable and a significant product defect these manufacturers need to address. If you have lost a family member in an accident caused by a defective motor vehicle, contact an experienced Westport wrongful death attorney to find out what legal action you may be able to take against the manufacturer.

Month after month, there are reports of private plane crashes—usually with no survivors. Not only do these crashes prove fatal for the occupants of the air craft, but far too often there are on-the-ground victims who are either killed or seriously injured when a plane crashes to the ground.

Two weeks ago, a mother and her two children were killed when a small plane crashed into their home in Gaithersburg, Maryland. According to reports from the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), the home burst into fire and the victims were trapped inside. The 36 year-old mother’s body was found huddled and holding the bodies of her seven-week old and three year-old sons. Additionally, all three occupants of the plane were killed in the crash. The plane was only one mile away from its destination when it crashed.

In 2011, the NTSB reported that 94 percent of all fatal plane crashes were categorized as general aviation. The general aviation category includes all small private planes, whether the aircraft is being flown by an experienced pilot or an amateur pilot. The agency’s statistics show that there are seven accidents per 100,000 flight hours in general aviation. For commercial aviation, those statistics are 0.16 accidents per 100,000 flight hours.

The majority of general aviation accidents involve pilot error, and the NTSB notes that most of these accidents are preventable. Many of this country’s 220,000 general aviation pilots do not have enough experience or training when experiencing situations such as bad weather. In fact, when an incident happens, they panic.

The head of the NTSB says that general aviation safety has now become top priority and the agency has implemented “safety alerts” and training videos in an effort to help educate general aviation pilots. The goal is to substantially decrease the number of general aviation accidents that occur annually, which currently number 1,500. Almost 450 people are killed in these accidents every year.

If you have lost a loved one in a fatal private plan crash, or a different type of accident caused by another person’s negligence, contact an experienced Westport wrongful death attorney to discuss the legal recourse you may have against the responsible party.