DOT Announces $10M Civil Penalty Against Graco for Car Seat Defect
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iStock/Thinkstock(WASHINGTON) — Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx announced a $10 million civil penalty against Graco Children’s Products for failure to provide timely information about a defect in millions of the company’s car seats.
The company is being forced to pay a $3 million fine to the federal government immediately, with an additional $7 million due in five years — with one caveat. The company can avoid paying the federal government that $7 million if its spends at least the same amount on new steps to improve children’s safety.
“Parents need to know that the seats they trust to protect their children are safe, and that when there’s a problem, the manufacturer will meet its obligations to fix the defect quickly,” Foxx said in a statement. “Today’s action reinforces that responsibility in a way that will make our kids safer for decades to come.”
Graco is also expected to create a plan and procedures for addressing certain performance requirements, including ways to make product registration more effective — by allowing parents to be notified, identifying potential safety trends industry-wide, and launching a child safety awareness campaign.
The company will also have to receive certification from an independent third-party to prove it has met its obligations in order to pay the balance of the civil penalty.
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