About 320,000 children’s cribs sold under the brand name Jardine Cribs at various stores nationwide including babiesrus.com, KidsWorld, Geoffrey Stores, Toys “R” Us, and Babies “R” Us from January 2002 through May 2008 are being recalled. The Consumer Product Safety Commission’s (CPSC) announced on their Web site today that Jardine Enterprises, of Taipei, Taiwan, the product manufacturer is recalling the cribs voluntarily and consumers are being advised not use the crib as it poses an entrapment and strangulation hazard to infants.

The CPSC has found the crib’s wooden slats and spindles can break, creating a gap, and this becomes hazardous for young children who could get stuck. There have been four children injured by the crib’s defect and 42 cases of the crib slats and spindles breaking.

The CPSC is to be commended for taking decisive action to encourage Jardine Enterprises to act appropriately and for making sure that an unsafe children’s product is taken off the marked and is no longer an injury risk to infants.

There have been many recent instances of defective cribs suffocating infants and causing horrific injuries. As a parent and product liability attorney I’m furious these accidents happened – they were all completely avoidable and occurred only because the crib manufacturer did not make safety a priority over manufacturing costs.

By holding manufacturers of defective products accountable for the harm they cause and forcing them to compensate their victims, the manufacturers of safe products regain some degree of competitive edge that may have been compromised by the additional costs they incurred ensuring their product was safe. Thus, holding negligent manufacturers economically responsible for the harm their products cause, levels the playing field for the manufactures of safe products.

Please visit the CPSC Web site for a complete list of the recalled Jardine wooden cribs including styles and finishes, date sold and manufacturer’s contact information.