Lane Company Civil Penalty - Entrapment Fatalities in Cedar Chests

NEWS from CPSC

U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission

Office of Information and Public Affairs

Washington, DC 20207

Note: web site address change

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Originally issued July 6, 2001
Revised November 15, 2001
Release # 01-186

CPSC Consumer Hotline: (800) 638-2772
CPSC Media Contact: Ken Giles, (301) 504-7052

Lane Company Agrees to Pay $900,000 Civil Penalty for Delay in Reporting Child Entrapment Fatalities in Cedar Chests

WASHINGTON, D.C. - The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) announced today that The Lane Company Inc. ("Lane"), of Altavista, Va., has agreed to pay a civil penalty of $900,000. The penalty settles CPSC allegations that Lane failed to report in a timely manner that children could become entrapped in "Lane" and "Virginia Maid" brand cedar chests made between 1912 and 1987. The lids on these pre-1987 cedar chests automatically latch shut when closed. Prior to April 1996, Lane had received reports that five children suffocated inside these older cedar chests.

Under the law, manufacturers are required immediately to report to the CPSC product defects. The CPSC charges that Lane failed to report in a timely manner that children could become entrapped in the pre-1987 cedar chests as a result of lids that latched automatically when closed. Since 1987, all Lane cedar chests have been manufactured with lids that do not latch automatically. In agreeing to settle this matter, Lane denies the charges that it violated the law.

Lane manufactured approximately 12 million cedar chests prior to 1987 with lids that latched automatically when shut. In 1996, Lane initiated a voluntary lock recall program with CPSC to provide free replacement locks to consumers who owned pre-1987 cedar chests. These replacement locks prevent the lids from latching automatically when shut. After April 1996, Lane learned of two additional deaths and two near fatalities in these older cedar chests and called for a renewed search for the pre-1987 chests. For a replacement lock, a customer should contact Lane at (888) 856-8758, or contact Lane via the website for the voluntary lock replacement program at www.lanefurniture.com/customer_care/newlockrequest.asp?LHF=.