While loosening the 5-point harness straps on our britax frontier child restraint (a forward facing, harnessed combination seat), the shoulder strap for the child's left shoulder came off the harness splitter plate when the left side was tugged to loosen the straps. This was while the child restraint was installed with the vehicle seatbelt using the long belt path installation method in our 2005 Toyota Sienna after approx. 3 months of regular use. I was unable to replicate the problem upon uninstalling the child restraint, but I am aware of other frontier owners who have had the same issue when loosening the straps and who have been able to replicate it while installed in their vehicles or uninstalled. This poses a risk to a child should this occur during a crash scenario and warrants corrective action to prevent injury or worse. I have reported the issue to britax's customer service, and the customer service rep. Noted our seat's model, batch number, date of manufacture, and our contact info. On Sept. 5, 2008. I felt it was appropriate to also bring the issue to NHTSA's attention as well in the event that the issue is recall-worthy.

- Ypsilanti, MI, USA

: the contact stated the harness release button is accessible to the child. When the button is pressed, the straps release and the child becomes unsecured. The manufacturer indicated they had received similar complaints, but there was currently no recall or remedy available. The child seat is a britax marathon, the model number and date of manufacturer were unknown by the contact.

- Temecula, CA, USA