Anapol Weiss Champions Innovative Car Seat Alert System in Landmark Case
A multiple-seven-figure case was recently resolved against a car seat manufacturer for a child who was thrown out of his car seat because he was—unbeknownst to his mom—able to unbuckle while she was driving down the road.
For decades, the federal government has reported that 25 percent of children ride in their car seats after unbuckling, and yet only one manufacturer has installed a warning alert if a child unlatches her car seat's chest clip or buckle. We reminded the manufacturer of this information:
Harness/Buckle Misuse: 3 out of 4 car seats are used incorrectly. The top misuse is proper child harnessing. Either the child is improperly buckled and tensioned in the harness, or the child unbuckles during the ride.
Addressing this serious child safety concern, our experts developed built-in sensors attached to the chest clip and buckle, and these sensors set off a warning if either component is unlatched while a child is in the seat. Each warning provides a verbal recorded announcement that “the chest clip is unlatched” or “the buckle is unlatched.”
Having favorably resolved this case for our young client, Anapol Weiss has commissioned our engineering consultants to make every effort to patent these design features and market them to the child safety community; hopefully, we can reduce the risk of this tragedy ever happening to another child.