CPSC Approves Proposed Rule Aimed at Making Strollers Safer

WASHINGTON, D.C. –To help prevent further deaths and injuries to young children, the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) voted today to approve a notice of proposed rulemaking (NPR) to create a federal safety standard for strollers. The Commission voted unanimously (3-0) to approve publication of the NPR in the Federal Register.

The proposed stroller standard incorporates the published voluntary ASTM F833-13 standard, Standard Consumer Safety Specification for Carriages and Strollers, with one modification. The modification would require the addition of language in the standard to address scissoring, shearing, and pinching hazards associated with folding or foldable strollers.

CPSC staff reviewed more than 1,200 stroller-related incidents, including four fatalities and nearly 360 injuries that occurred from 2008 through 2012. Staff believes that the published standard, with the proposed addition in the NPR, will help to reduce the risks associated with the majority of the hazard patterns identified in reviewing the stroller incidents.

Hazard patterns found in strollers include:

• wheel breakage and detachment;
• parking brake and lock mechanism failures;
• hinge issues;
• structural integrity issues;
• entrapment;
• car seat attachment;
• canopy issues; and
• handlebar failures.

Reported injuries include:

• finger amputations on folding hinges and canopy hinges;
• falls due to wheel detachment or parking brake issues;
• injuries due to stroller collapse;
• head entrapment in openings of travel systems; and
• falls due to a child unbuckling the restraint harnesses.

The proposed rule would also help address finger injuries associated with the folding hinges on folding or foldable strollers. Various stroller types, such as travel systems, carriages, tandem, side-by-side, multi-occupant, and jogging strollers would be covered by the standard.

Staff recommends that the mandatory standard for strollers become effective 18 months following publication of the final rule in the Federal Register.

The proposed rule has a 75-day public comment period. Comments can be posted directly on Regulations.gov.

The Commission is required under The Danny Keysar Child Product Safety Notification Act, Section 104(b) of the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act of 2008 (CPSIA) to issue consumer product safety standards for durable infant or toddler products.  To date, the Commission has approved more stringent federal safety standards for full-size cribs, non-full-size cribs, play yards, baby walkers, baby bath seats, and children’s portable bed rails.