A pushchair’s parking brake is one of the few safety features that has to work correctly every single time, with no margin for “mostly fine.” The Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents (RoSPA) specifically names faulty brakes as one of the primary causes of pushchair-related injuries, which makes it worth understanding how the mechanism actually works, not just trusting that it’s engaged.
How a Standard Parking Brake Works
Most pushchairs use a simple mechanical parking brake: a foot-operated lever or pedal near the rear wheels that, when pressed down, engages a pin or bar into the wheel’s spokes or hub, physically preventing the wheel from rotating. It’s a purely mechanical system with no electronics involved, which is part of why it’s generally reliable, but also why wear, dirt, or a bent component can cause it to fail silently, without any warning light or indicator telling you it’s no longer engaging properly.
What RoSPA Specifically Recommends
RoSPA’s pushchair and buggy safety guidance recommends checking that brakes work correctly before you rely on them, specifically advising that you lock and unlock the brake and then push the pushchair to confirm it actually holds. This isn’t a one-off check at purchase; it’s guidance intended to be repeated regularly, since wear and everyday use, dirt in the mechanism, kerb impacts, grit and debris, can all gradually affect how reliably a brake engages, even on a pushchair that worked perfectly when new.
The Slope Test
A brake that holds a pushchair still on flat ground doesn’t necessarily hold it on a slope, which is precisely the situation where a brake failure is most dangerous, on a pavement incline, at a train platform, or on a driveway. The practical test is to engage the parking brake, then gently push the pushchair forward and backward on a slight incline to confirm the frame holds firm in both directions, rather than assuming that because it stopped the wheel from spinning freely on level ground, it’ll hold under any real-world condition.
Why “Faulty Brakes” Is a Named Injury Cause, Not a Generic Warning
RoSPA’s guidance groups faulty brakes together with flammable materials, unstable carriages and finger entrapments as documented causes of pushchair-related injuries to children, which means this isn’t a theoretical risk being flagged out of general caution. A brake that fails to hold on a slope or kerb can let a pushchair roll unexpectedly while a parent is briefly distracted, loading shopping, managing another child, or reaching for something, which is exactly the kind of momentary lapse a working parking brake is designed to protect against.
Checking a Second-Hand Pushchair’s Brakes Specifically
If you’re buying second-hand, brake wear is one of the harder things to assess from photos or a quick glance, since the mechanism can look intact while actually being partially worn or misaligned. Test it in person exactly the way RoSPA describes: engage it, then push forward and back, ideally on whatever slope or incline you can find nearby rather than only on a flat shop floor or driveway. Also check that the pushchair carries a reference to a recognised safety standard, BS EN 1888-1:2018+A1:2022 or the older BS 7409:1996, since a compliant frame and brake mechanism at least started from a tested baseline design, even if wear can still affect performance over time.
Making It a Habit, Not a One-Off
Because brake wear happens gradually, the most reliable approach is building the lock-unlock-push check into routine use, particularly after the pushchair has been folded and unfolded repeatedly, exposed to wet or gritty conditions, or hasn’t been used for a while after storage. It takes a few seconds and directly targets the specific failure mode RoSPA’s guidance identifies as a real, documented cause of injury.
Sources
- RoSPA, “Pushchairs and buggies” safety guide — rospa.com