Shock, awe and apathy: Reactions to Maclaren's stroller recall

The Maclaren website and phone system were overwhelmed to the point of crashing yesterday as worried parents tried to request repair kits for their strollers. This comes as a result of a massive recall of every single Maclaren stroller sold in the United States over the past 10 years. According to the Consumer Products Safety Commission, twelve children lost fingertips when they were caught in the strollers' hinges as they were being folded and unfolded. Reaction among parents ranges all the way from shock to apathy.

Parents who own Maclaren strollers can contact the company for a repair kit consisting of hinge sleeves, but many unanswered questions remain, and parents raise some good points on various mommy blogs. A few nuggets we gleaned from reading some of the blogs follow, and if you've got the time, be sure to check out the accompanying reader comments as well. A large percentage of parents indicate that they will continue to use their Maclaren strollers, even as they wait to receive their repair kits from the company.

This recall only affects Maclaren strollers in the United States, but they're sold worldwide. Why no recalls elsewhere? The Times of London's parenting blog asks, "What, don't we love our kids' fingers here?" Some of the comments that accompany this piece are pretty harsh, blaming America's litigious society and/or inattentive parenting for the recall.

The Daddytypes blog calls the Maclaren recall "Macopalypse."  In a short interview with a Daddytypes blogger (who happened to be pushing his Maclaren Volo stroller when the call came), Maclaren USA chairman Bahman Kia couched the recall in larger terms: "any folding stroller with a hinge is prone to the same risk of pinching. As Kia put it, this is an "industry-wide issue," which Maclaren has "taken the lead to resolve."

From the Baby Bargains blog, Denise and Alan Fields offer an opinion on why "only" 12 amputations out of 1 million strollers is a big deal: "As readers of our book know, we have recommended Maclaren strollers for many years. This is the first we have heard of finger amputations. But clearly, Maclaren has known about this for some time. [Why] they failed to take the simple step of covering the hinges to prevent this problem is puzzling."