to not be bothered about getting a 'safety kit' from Maclaren??

[Disenchanted3]

Why are people freaking out so much? They are starting online petitions to get them available to UK residents.

15 'incidents' out of millions of buggies and users isn't that much is it?1

And c'mon, all you have to do it make sure your kids not got its fingers near your buggy when your folding it.

Just like you watch their fingers when you shut the car door and so on.

We don't need safety kits attatched to every closing / folding item in the home surely? Just use your common sense.

(Can understand why the Americans need them though)

I was wondering about this. I don't have a buggy anymore but if I would not have wanted one.

They look like they would be pretty fiddly to open and close the buggy with them on.

OMG!

Will confess I only saw a headline & assumed that buggies were collapsing with babies/children still in them, hence the accidents!

So it´s entirely preventable, just by using common sense?

It doens't annoy me from a safety POV as yes keep their fingers out. However like MmeLindt I probably would think twice about buying a maclaren.

What irritates me is that the fix pack is (I think) two little plastic thingies, ie not very expensive. Either there is a problem with the buggies or there isn;t. If there is, everyone should get a kit. If not, no-one should get one. It's so blatently cynical that only the people in the country which sues a lot gets them. I think it is a very bad marketing move on maclaren's part because people (stupidly) like to think that brands care, and brands pay millions to foster that feeling. The feeling most people will get with maclaren now is not warm and fuzzy.

It's hard to explain quite what I mean but I think it's pretty shit.

So YANBU but maclaren are BU in that they are being blatently cynical. Or something

I see your point about if theres a problem everyone should have access to the kit.

But I honestly don't think the kit is needed, its just something Maclaren ahve thrown together to be seen to be 'doing something' for the US market. I think the USA branded them unsafe without the kits but the EU said theres no need to give kits out here because according to our saftety standards the buggies are fine, you just need to not fold them with your kids hands in them.

I've just got a XLR and won't be badgering them for a kit for it.

We only have a Maclaren because we were given one as a hand-me-down and thought it would be useful as a "chuck it in the hold" holiday buggy. I think we've used it three times!

When I first heard the news, I though, like Diddl that the buggies were perhaps collapsing with children in them or something equally dangerous. When I saw the news and saw that the danger was when folding I agreed with the journalist that in actual fact, for most sensible parents, the danger is to their own fingers, not those of the child. I would certainly never try putting up any buggy with my DS holding on to the frame!

That said, I also agree with ImSoNotTelling in that, if they are going to offer a "fix" kit then they should offer it to everybody not just the Americans. From what I heard on the news, Europeans buy proportionately more Maclaren buggies than the Americans so I would have thought it was a very bad idea to make them feel less important or like they are missing out in any way for fear of losing sales.

But is it worth spending millions of pounds to make the Brits feel as important as the Americans?

I don't see why Maclaren should waste money on something that is basically not needed. In the current economic climate it is madness.

From a PR point of view, they should have perhaps put out a statement saying that, when used sensibly the buggies are not dangerous but if dumbwits anyone would like a kit, they can get in touch and order one.

Basically they are just covering their asses in case they get sued in US

Exactlt Mmelindt,

Its not about improving the safety of the buggy, or favouring the Americans over the Europeans, its all about how the USA demand some kind of action constantly and if Maclaren were seen to do nothing but issue a statement to them after the accidents becaame public I can guarentee there would be Lawsuits comein left, right and centre over trapped fingers.

This way have have the safe guard of 'well you should have been using the safety kit.'

Every single pushchair/buggy on the market has the potential to cause injury. I don't have a Maclaren but this wouldn't put me off getting one. Garden chairs for instance are way more dangerous, they are actually capable of conscious thought and deliberately aim for your fingers when collapsing while you're in them but nobody's giving out kits for them

Everything has some sort of hazard-factor from walking down the street to changing a lightbulb. I've been pushing a Maclaren (well, 2 different ones) for over 5 years and they are great and we've had no incidents. Still the best buggies on the market. We need to support our British companies too!!

Yes Mme they should have said that if people want a pack they can call and get one. Then people would feel that maclaren had "done the right thing" but on balance they probably wouldn't bother getting one.

Why shouldn't people feel as important as the americans though? Companies operate around the world differently according to (usually) the minimum standards in the country they are selling to. So a country with laxer rules might get more riskier prodcuts. Like with food additives - people are always a bit when things are used here which are banned elsewhere in the world.

All very well to say "well obviously you'd have to be thick to have this happen". Problem is, lots of people are a bit thick. or careless. Or clumsy.

If it's good enough for the yanks it's good enough for us.

I personally think the warning is good enough for us and that there is no need to issue safety kits.

It clearly states in the instructions that children should be kept clear of the buggy when folding or unfolding - that just needs to be reiterated publically so that people realise it is important and why.

I have 2 maclarens (truimph and quest) and I won't be fitting safety devices to either of them. Instead, I will make sure my kids are clear of the buggy whilst being folded/unfolded, which tbh I do anyway.

I've gone through two MacLarens (the first one did actually collapse quite gently with ds in it, but it was an old buggy, ds was a heavy boy, and it wasn't at all a scary experience). My own feeling is that they are so easy to collapse and put up that it should be quite possible to keep an eye on dcs at the same time. I travelled everywhere by public transport so spent an awful lot of time putting up and collapsing, often holding dd or ds by the reins at the same time. No more dangerous than the rest of our household.

ImSoNotTelling
Exactly. Every country has a different approach to safety and health issues.

I would say that USA is at the top of the paranoid scale, followed by UK. We in French speaking Switzerland are waaaaaaaaaaay down at the bottom.

It is normal that the companies adapt their response to the country in which they are selling.

This is interesting because a few years back when I was talking to the owner of a pramshop. He was telling me that Graco was bringing out a new pushchair in the US but it wouldn't be coming to the UK because we have far more stringent H&S laws and it wouldn't pass the tests.
Also from what I can gather P&T have far more safety issues ie babies burning their arms on the wheels and they always get bad reviews in Which for saftey aspects and nobody is making a fuss about that.

I agree and I think that there is a chance a toddler could get their finger caught in any kind of buggy if there finger was in the joints as it was being folded. P&Ts are a nightmare, I have caught my fingers in it a few times. M&P, I could see how a wee finger could get trapped in that as well.

It's like a car door, your DC could get their finger caught in every car door if they really wanted to.

Ooh, don't put me off P&T's, I've only had mine a fortnight!!

P&T sent out similar joint covers last year

I think UK consumers should be offered the safety kit and if we aren't I will request them in the US instead

My neighbour lost the top of his finger to a phil and teds. Take care.

P&T's are fab I'm about to get my second but you do need to watch out when folding them.

Yanbu at all. I think the kits look ugly anyway ;)

What about all the other strollers that are the shame shape/frame as Maclarens? Will they all need them in the USA?

Seems bonkers to me.

Interesting thread. We have a McClaren Twin Techno, and my DS's finger is just recovering from having been trapped in it.

I agree completely that it doesn't seem possible for a finger to get trapped if you are using common sense, but it happened to my very sensible DH (he's a German engineer, c'mon, you have to believe me that he is VERY sensible!). I wasn't there when it happened, but it seems that the twins were grumpy, crying, climbing into the pram whilst DH was trying to unfold it. He had just pushed the last part into place (children still crying etc) when he realised that DS was now crying because his finger was trapped.

We were shocked to read the article in the news about the recall, because we realised that DS had a very lucky escape, and seemingly could have actually lost his finger end. As it is, he just lost the finger nail (the whole nail fell off), and that is now growing back.

So, maybe my DH was on that occasion more careless than usual, and it could never happen to the millions of other parents who are always much more careful and perfect than him, and would never let their children within 3m of an unfolding pram. Or he's normal, and it could happen.

A friend of mine had a different brand of pram where the child's seat could change direction. Child was screaming so she stopped, changed the direction by moving the handlebar, and trapped her child's arm in the process. Since her child was already screaming anyway, and since the pram was new so she wasn't used to the mechanism, she didn't immediately notice the problem.

I'm not sure it's possible to make a completely safe pram, rather better to be aware that it's easier than you expect to get limbs trapped!

Surely any buggy would trap a finger if folded over it.

Ironically when my 21yr old nephew was 1 there was a lot of news about buggies trapping kids fingers. My sil decided not to buy a v cheap buggy and get a maclaren instead!

I would never get rid of my maclaren volo as I think its the lightest buggy you can buy and I have very heavy babies.