The recalled Maclaren stroller is responsible for
severing the fingers of 12 children.
Maclaren was aware of finger cutoff stroller defect for five years
Maclaren knew for at least five years that its strollers could lop off a child's finger, but did nothing about the dangerous defect until federal regulators all but forced it to, The Post has learned.
This week, the company agreed to a "voluntary recall" of all its models sold as far back as 1999, conceding that the fingers of 12 children were severed by the stroller's hinges when they were opened or closed.
But since Maclaren failed to notify the Consumer Products Safety Commission when it first became aware of even a "potential danger," the British-based company could still face a fine of $1 million or more, sources said.
Companies are required by federal law to "report to CPSC immediately on learning of a problem with a product that makes it a substantial hazard or poses a potential hazard," commission spokesman Scott Wolfson said.
The company has known the stroller hinges could become finger guillotines since at least July 12, 2004, when 23-month-old Connecticut toddler Carlos DeWinter lost his right pinky, according to court papers obtained by The Post.
His mother, Jane DeWinter, was shopping for a Maclaren Triumph stroller at a Right Start shop near her Greenwich home, and she was testing the one-handed folding and unfolding mechanism.
As she was about to lock the stroller into the open position, Carlos put his finger on the hinge, and he suffered a "traumatic amputation," the court papers said.
Despite two surgeries, the pinky could not be reattached.
Maclaren and Right Start argued that the mother's "own negligence" was to blame, the suit says.
Robert Moro, an engineer and former compliance officer with the Consumer Products Safety Commission, testified in 2007 that "this stroller contains a substantial design defect when compared to other types of designs of strollers intended to be used by children."
The way the stroller was designed and manufactured in China violated federal guidelines intended to prevent a gruesome "scissoring effect," Moro said.
"Maclaren had a legal obligation to report this," Moro told The Post. "It's extremely unfortunate a lot of little kids had to get their fingers amputated."
Maclaren settled with the DeWinters for an undisclosed sum. Jane DeWinter said she could not comment.
The Consumer Products Safety Commission would not say if Maclaren violated any law, because the case is still under investigation.
In the case of the strollers, "12 fingers is 12 too many," Wolfson added. "We highly, highly encourage people to take advantage of this recall."
Maclaren did not return calls for comment, but the company has argued that other, comparable strollers have the same issue as theirs.
The safety commission is also looking into that, Wolfson said.
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