Beginning March 1993, Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard 213 required manufacturers to provide a postage-paid registration form with each new child safety seat sold, with the goal of increasing consumer response to child seat recalls. Before March 1993, registration was voluntary for manufacturers. It is estimated that registration increased from 3 percent prior to 1993, to an average 27 percent over the years 1996 through 2000. Based on data from 1990 through 2000, the repair rate for recalled child seats also increased, from 13.8 percent before the registration requirement to 21.5 percent once the requirement was in effect. The cost to consumers for child seat registration and notification is approximately 43 cents per seat sold in the United States. (Author/publisher)
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