Hi Mindfulmum, since seeing your post about the serious dangers about the Maclaren strollers, i am definately going to contact them to receive the repair kit. We love the product, but if it cant be fixed and thus made safe for our 9month old – then we will be throwing it out immediately!!! (and i dont mean passing it to the local charity shop for someone elses child to lose their fingers). Many thanks for drawing this to our attention. Many thanks indeed. Kind regards John.

Hi MindfulMum. Thanks for bringing this to UK attention! But I think your blog post doesn’t explain how the fingertip injuries have occured. It’s actually due to misuse of the product, not an inherent danger in the buggies themselves. Surely noone in their right mind would let their child put their fingers in the hinge of a buggy whilst it was being opened or closed? Obviously this has happened in a few unfortunate accidents and as a result Maclaren are taking this step because the cost of being sued, EVEN IF THEY WEREN’T ACTUALLY AT FAULT, would be even higher. But I think it’s actually a compliment (if rather a backhanded one) to the UK consumer to assume that they have enough common sense and intelligence to carry on using a perfectly good product without incident. We don’t need hinge covers. Give them to the US parents, leave us to be aware as we always have been! Hope that makes things clearer and thanks for listening..

John & Liz, thank you for your comments. It’s important to get parents views from both ends of the spectrum. I think Liz raises an important point on how the British deal with product injuries as a whole. On receiving emails from Mums and reading comments on the forums such as netmums it seems that many parents did not report accidents because they thought it was an isolated incident. If people do not report accidents then of course the Trading Standards will say they have not received enough complaints. Is the British ‘stiff upper lip’ and reluctance to make a fuss when things go wrong misguided when it comes to protecting our children?

Six minutes after sending the the template email provided I received the following response from Maclaren:
”
Thank you for your email regarding the Maclaren USA voluntary stroller recall.

This recall affects US customers only and is not being implemented in the UK or any other country outside of the USA.

This week, Maclaren USA will announce a voluntary ‘recall to repair’ of all strollers, which will involve distributing a set of covers for the buggy’s elbow joint hinge mechanism. There is not product defect or non-compliance with industry standards involved but they are taking this precautionary measure due to an increase in the number of incidents in the US where children have accidentally trapped their fingers in the joint whilst coming into contact with while the buggy as it is being unfolded.

Following careful consideration we decided that there was no requirement for a similar programme in the UK due to the low number of this type of incident in the UK and especially as there is not a product defect or non-compliance with the stringent EU quality standards for buggies. Maclaren’s famous umbrella buggies have served as the benchmark for quality for this category and have maintained outstanding records for safety and durability for over 40 years.

However, we continue to stress to all of our customers that carers keep their children clear of their buggy while it being unfolded or folded, which prevents injuries of this type happening. There is no risk of finger entrapment when the buggy is fully erect.

I hope this information is of use. Thank you again for contacting us at Maclaren.”

While I agree with Liz (and I am an American living in the UK), I also believe that concerned British parents have every right to receive a repair kit. The recall poses a double standard, regardless of obvious parental negligence or lawsuit-happy consumers. If this is not rectified by Maclaren, they will certainly face a drop in its UK sales figures.

I have set up a new Facebook page on this issue… please join.

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Make-Maclaren-Safe/189758750632

I will be promoting the Mindful Mum campaign and template letters also. We need to work together to put the pressure on Maclaren and stop their double standards!

After writing a second email in which I said I would never buy Maclaren again, nor recommend them to friends AND spread the word in parenting blogs and forums such as this, I was told I would receive a repair kit. I am happy that so many parents did the same and the company is responding – as it should have in the first place. Thanks for providing a means of action!

i think this has been blown out of proportion!
my 3 month old is very safe in his fantasic light weight pushchair. why on earth any loving, careful, mindful, intellegent parent would let their child put their fingers near a hinge when it is being used! is this not common sence??? the same as fingers being trapped in a door???
its just silly, this whole argument doesnt have a point.