|
Washington, D.C.—The U.S. House of Representatives today unanimously approved H.R. 1699, the Danny Keysar Child Product Safety Notification Act. Representatives Jan Schakowsky (D-IL) and Fred Upton (R-MI) introduced H.R. 1699 to overhaul the current recall registration system for children’s products. H.R. 1699 would require that each durable infant and toddler product – high chairs, cribs, and strollers – come with a postage-paid recall registration card attached to the product. The bill now awaits consideration by the U.S. Senate.
“Today, the House approved legislation that will save countless children’s lives by changing the way companies notify the public about recalls,” said U.S. Representative Jan Schakowsky. “Our bill will help get unsafe products off store shelves and out of our homes. I urge my colleagues in the Senate to move quickly to pass this legislation before more lives are needlessly lost because of dangerous products.”
Under current law, companies are not required to include recall registration cards on durable products, except for car seats. If the media does not report a recall, parents have virtually no way of knowing that a certain product is dangerous. Even if the media reports a recall, parents must tune into the right television or radio station or pick up the right newspaper on the right day to find out about the recall.
H.R. 1699 is modeled after the National Highway and Transportation Safety Administration’s recall system for car seats that began in 1993. This program has been so successful that since its inception the number of families registering has increased tenfold, and recall repair rates have gone up by 56%.
The bill was named after Danny Keysar, the 17-month old child from Chicago who died when the Playskool Travel-Lite portable crib he had been napping in at his babysitter’s home collapsed. The rails of the crib folded into a “V”-shaped wedge when he stood up and he was strangled to death on May 12, 1998. The crib had been recalled five years earlier but word of its hazard had not reach Danny’s parents, the caregiver with whom he was staying, or a state safety inspector who visited the home just eight days before Danny’s death.
Danny’s father, Boaz Keysar, released the following statement after the bill passed the House.
“Passage of this bill should improve recall effectiveness. A simple postcard could have saved our son's life. We are honored that this bill, that is named after our Danny, might save other families from grief. We hope that Congress will also prevent manufacturers from selling untested children's products, so that recalls can be avoided altogether.”
|
