Graco to pay US$10m for delay in recall of defective seats

New York

GRACO Children's Products has agreed to pay US$10 million to settle claims that it failed to promptly recall about four million child car seats with a defective buckle that could make it difficult to free a child in an emergency, federal regulators said.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) said that Graco would pay a US$3 million fine and spend US$7 million developing safety programmes.

Graco had insisted that the only problem with the buckles was caused by children spilling food or drinks on them. But some parents told federal regulators that they had to cut straps to free a child, and regulators dismissed the contamination explanation, saying that such a problem was foreseeable. In January 2014, t…