Car seat safety? Have you read the Consumer's Report?
Monday, March 29th, 2010 at
5:41 pm
You are currently browsing comments. If you would like to return to the full story, you can read the full entry here: “Car seat safety? Have you read the Consumer's Report?”.
Tagged with: car wreck • cr • google • graco safeseat • last night i had a dream • script type • text javascript • thanks in advance
Like this post? Subscribe to my RSS feed and get loads more!
Consumer Reports is known for taking safety to the next level, and in its most recent round of testing rear-facing, infant car seats, it went beyond the current federal safety standards for seat performance in a collision. The government tests seats in front crashes of 30 mph, but Consumer Reports simulated front impacts of 35 mph and side impacts of 38 mph (the same standards used for car safety testing). The results in this more stringent environment were dramatic, with 10 of the 12 seats either twisting too far or coming out of their bases.
Consumer Reports’ testing also showed serious failings in seats secured by the LATCH system. The National Highway Traffic and Safety Administration (NHTSA) itself calls the LATCH system confusing and Consumer Reports notes that the NHTSA is planning a public hearing on the system later this year.
Here’s how the seats fared in Consumer Reports’ tests:
The Good
Baby Trend Flex-Loc Adjustable Back
Graco Snugride with EPS
The Bad
Chicco KeyFit
Peg Perego Primo Viaggio SIP
Compass I410
Evenflo Embrace
Britax Companion
Graco SafeSeat
Safety 1st Designer
Combi Centre ST
Evenflo Discovery
Eddie Bauer Comfort
I read the article. Apparently Graco is arguing the results because the tests were conducted under different circumstances than the required standard, but to me, your baby is the most important thing to protect, and it might be worth the extra money to buy a new one if you are worried. I found it most troubling that car seats only have to pass safety tests at 30 mph. Who the heck only drives 30 mph?
I have read it, and your right, it is scary.
Those tests were only done at 35 mph and 38 mph
Here’s a link to the story in case anyone wants to read it.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070105/ap_on_he_me/infant_seats
If I owned one of these seats, I think I would get rid of it.
I did look up the 2 seats that passed the tests, they say they are about $90, but I couldn’t find one under $130
i think gracos are great. they perfom well and they are low cost