When the Kolcraft car seats are used as baby carriers, the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration have found that the flawed handle design can cause the seat to flip up suddenly tossing the child out.

More than 3,000 failures and 42 injuries have been reported due to the defective car seats. Many of the reported injuries have been very serious, including concussions, cuts, bruises, and one child suffered a skull fracture. Most of the injuries occurred when the child fell from the seat.

Kolcraft of Chicago isn't the only car seat maker that has had products recalled recently. In May 1988, the CPSC issued a recall for Evenflo car seats, and in July 1999, Cosco had car seats recalled. According to Ken Giles, a spokesman for the CPSC, the agency began investigating Kolcraft after the other two major car seat makers had recalls. Both the Evenflo and Cosco car seats featured identical defects. "When we knew that there were problems with other brands, we decided to look at the whole market," Giles said.

The recall is affecting eight product lines, including the Infant Rider, Secura, Travel-About, Plus 4, Plus 5, Kolcraft Infant Restraint, Kolcraft Infant Car Seat and Playskool Infant Car Seat.

If you have purchased one of the recalled products, but you don't use it as a carrier there is no need to worry about the product's safety. Those who do use the car seat as a carrier should contact the company immediately. The company is offering a free repair kit to those who still want to use the seats as carriers.

For more information about which model numbers are involved in the recall, or to obtain a free repair kit, call Kolcraft at (877) 776-2609. Kolcraft recommends that you have your seat nearby when you call because you'll need to answer questions based on information on the seat's labels.