ROANOKE, Va. (WDBJ) – A warning for new parents: six unsafe newborn car seats have recently been spotted in Virginia. UVA Health providers say families unknowingly purchased the seats online, not realizing they don’t meet U.S. safety standards.
The unapproved car seats look similar to standard models, but lack critical safety features and have never been crash-tested.
“We were doing a car seat trial on a baby and as a nurse was putting the baby in the car seat, she noticed a few things that didn’t seem correct,” said Brianna Russell, a UVA Health nurse manager.
Experts say common giveaways include misspelled labels, pictures instead of words, no label at all, or the wrong chest clip—three points instead of the required five-point harness.
“Counterfeit seats that aren’t even non-compliant, they’re actually fake, don’t have the chest clip on them. They have really thin straps, and the fit for the baby is not as customizable as a standardized seat,” said Cheyenne Bennett, a child passenger safety technician with Carilion…