WaPo article on how the BOB stroller should be recalled but isn’t

[Anonymous]

I would think that Britax would want to replace the stroller. Now I'd think all their products could be suspect. Really glad I don't have anymore Britax or BOB products.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This actually happened to us the other day. Luckily, my husband and I were running together and I was in front, so I looked back and could see the wheel going crazy. We stopped and fixed it before anything bad happened.

What model year did you have? Did you contact Britax?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote: I'm so glad I would never buy one of those overpriced strollers. I've been happy with my Chicco and Graco ones.

Which models do you use for jogging?

[Anonymous]

One point that wasn't made clear in the article: The general standard is not whether a product is safe if used as instructed: The standard is whether it's safe when used by real people. Nobody's perfect, and when a product is used by hundreds of thousands of people, many people will make mistakes.

So BOB might say: "Hey, their fault; they didn't tighten it right." CPSC should say, "No, you KNOW that some people aren't going to tighten it right. You need to make it really hard to do wrong, and you need to build the stroller so that when people do it wrong - and they will - it won't result in a serious injury."

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP, can you please summarize the article for those who don’t subsribe to WP? Thanks.

Stop asking people to violate copyright protections, and subscribe to a publication if you want to read its content.

[Anonymous]

people are stupid and don't follow instructions.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP, can you please summarize the article for those who don’t subsribe to WP? Thanks.

Stop asking people to violate copyright protections, and subscribe to a publication if you want to read its content.

OMG just Google it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:One point that wasn't made clear in the article: The general standard is not whether a product is safe if used as instructed: The standard is whether it's safe when used by real people. Nobody's perfect, and when a product is used by hundreds of thousands of people, many people will make mistakes.

So BOB might say: "Hey, their fault; they didn't tighten it right." CPSC should say, "No, you KNOW that some people aren't going to tighten it right. You need to make it really hard to do wrong, and you need to build the stroller so that when people do it wrong - and they will - it won't result in a serious injury."

This. The article suggested that, but didn't make it explicit. BOB just kept insisting the design was fine, and the CPSC kept telling them that it was causing accidents. One tell is that BOB did redesign the stroller to do both those things--reduce the chances that the wheel releases and reduce the chances that it falls off when released. They just wouldn't agree to recall the older strollers. The detail that jumped out at me was that BOB's own instructions said that less than a half-turn of the release latch could make it unsafe. That's not much room for error, and people make errors.

[Anonymous]

Yeah this is ridiculous. Especially for something that is hurting very young children! So glad I've never given Britax money and will be sure never to do so in the future.

[Anonymous]

The article was a bit sensational. The first 3/4 was devoted to evil Britax and all the people who got hurt. Then it takes until the end of it to get to the actual details of what the problem is, and what the dispute is about.

As I understand it, Britax's design DID meet CPSC's safety guidelines. Just CPSC got a bunch of complaints of injuries so they want it recalled. Why doesn't CPSC update their safety guidelines?

The issue is the quick-release lever and people not reading the instructions and warnings to keep it tight. This is common on just about all bicycles to remove the wheel (usually only on adult bicycles since kids bikes don't get flat tires as much) and adjust the seat. Our DD's bike has this for seat adjustment. This design has been common on bicycles for at least 30 years since I had it on my bikes when I was a teenager.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP, can you please summarize the article for those who don’t subsribe to WP? Thanks.

Why don't you subscribe??? Support print journalism for all that is good and holy in this world!!!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP, can you please summarize the article for those who don’t subsribe to WP? Thanks.

Why don't you subscribe??? Support print journalism for all that is good and holy in this world!!!

Amen! This is important information and it takes journalists time to research these articles.

[Anonymous]

CRAP i was just about to list my used Bob for sale

I dont trust the wapo though so, meh

[Anonymous]

I was about to list our 2012 model as well! I still think it was one of the highest-quality, most indispensable baby items we owned. Held up through three kids and near-daily running. As a cyclist it's second nature to me to check all quick release levers every time I use a bike or the bob, but I truly understand why it should have potentially been recalled early on to implement the updated 2015 design.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The article was a bit sensational. The first 3/4 was devoted to evil Britax and all the people who got hurt. Then it takes until the end of it to get to the actual details of what the problem is, and what the dispute is about.

As I understand it, Britax's design DID meet CPSC's safety guidelines. Just CPSC got a bunch of complaints of injuries so they want it recalled. Why doesn't CPSC update their safety guidelines?

The issue is the quick-release lever and people not reading the instructions and warnings to keep it tight. This is common on just about all bicycles to remove the wheel (usually only on adult bicycles since kids bikes don't get flat tires as much) and adjust the seat. Our DD's bike has this for seat adjustment. This design has been common on bicycles for at least 30 years since I had it on my bikes when I was a teenager.

According to the article, Britax's design met its own safety guidelines, which is usually sufficient. In this instance the career folks at CPSC felt it was insufficient because the safety guidelines apparently did not accurately reflect how many people interacted with the product in real life. (And then there's a large part of the article devoted to the internal feuding among the political appointees at CPSC which is actually why I clicked on it, since my agency has similar issues ...)