Britax defect petition DP20003
Car (child) seat crashworthiness. NHTSA’s Office of Defects Investigation opened this defect petition about the child seat. Opened Apr 3, 2020, closed Mar 15, 2021 after 11 months without a recall. closed
What NHTSA says
Source: Office of Defects Investigation, as filedNHTSA received a petition involving subject production year 2015 Britax Frontier ClickTight XE booster seats commonly used for children 2-years old and older weighing between 25-90 pounds while traveling in a vehicle. The Office of Defects Investigation (ODI) opened Defect Petition DP20-003 for a November 2019 crash event involving a subject seat. The crash involved a Model Year (MY) 2016 Nissan Rogue striking a telephone pole in a frontal collision. A subject seat, installed at the driver side rear seat, experienced a structural failure allowing the harness to pull through the seat back. According to a police report, this failure contributed to the death of a 4-year-old occupant. Notably there were two other occupants in the Rogue who survived the crash with injuries, the driver and a 3-year-old who was seated in a different make/model car seat at the rear passenger side seat position. During the DP, ODI sent Britax a letter (dated April 17, 2020) requesting, amongst other things, a count of allegations of the subject seat failing structurally during, or otherwise incurring structural damage as a result of, a vehicular crash event. Subject seats were defined as all Frontier Clicktight seats, regardless of production year. In its response of May 28, 2020, Britax identified a single allegation, the same crash event that was the subject of the Defect Petition received by ODI. Additionally, ODI conducted an inspection of the incident seat and vehicle, confirming the failure of the seat back and restraint system, and the significant damage to the front of the subject vehicle. To date, no determination as to the cause of the incident seat structural failure has been established, either by ODI or Britax. In addition, questions exist regarding the installation and prior usage of the incident seat. ODI is granting petition DP20-003 and opening a Preliminary Evaluation (PE21-007) to broaden the scope of its information request to include potential structural failure allegations in other Britax model seats. ODI will potentially evaluate peer car seats, in order to establish a broader data set upon which to base its assessment. There are two vehicle owner questionnaire reports, both submitted by the petitioner, which can be reviewed at NHTSA.gov using the following reference numbers: 11319247 and 11317879. Britax's response to ODI's request letter is also available for review at NHTSA.gov using Investigation DP20-003.
A Defect Petition is a petition from a member of the public asking NHTSA to open a defect investigation; the agency grants or denies it and publishes the reasons. The summary is the agency’s own text from its investigation file, unedited; the opening and closing resumes with the full reasoning are on NHTSA’s site under this number.
What this means for an owner
Source: and what happens nextAn investigation is not a finding that a defect exists, and it puts no duty on anyone. NHTSA opens a Preliminary Evaluation when complaints and other reports suggest a condition worth asking the manufacturer about; it upgrades to an Engineering Analysis when the answers warrant testing; it closes either when it recommends a recall, when the manufacturer recalls on its own, or when no defect trend is found. The agency’s own goals are about four months for a petition, eight for a Preliminary Evaluation or a Recall Query and eighteen for an Engineering Analysis; many run longer.
This one closed without a recall. That means NHTSA found no defect trend it chose to act on at the time, or the manufacturer addressed the condition another way (a service campaign or a bulletin, which have their own pages). A closed file can be reopened if new reports arrive.
Model years it names
Source: as NHTSA filed themNHTSA filed this action against Britax Child Safety, Inc. without naming a model year — an equipment or manufacturer-level query.
Common questions
Source: NHTSA Office of Defects InvestigationIs DP20003 a recall?
No. A defect petition is NHTSA asking questions, not a recall. A safety recall carries an NHTSA campaign number and a duty to repair for free; this one closed without one. Whether one particular vehicle has an open recall is a VIN question at nhtsa.gov/recalls.
Is DP20003 still open?
No. It closed on Mar 15, 2021 without a recall.
Which vehicles does DP20003 cover?
NHTSA filed it against Britax Child Safety, Inc. without naming a model year.