Infant Car Seats
Friday, January 5, 2007
Consumer Reports just crash tested a dozen infant car seats at the same speeds governments use for rating the crash worthiness of most cars. The majority of infant seats did poorly and the video evidence is frightening.
The government crash tests many vehicles at thirty-five miles per hour. Side-crash tests are at thirty-eight miles per hour. Consumer Reports just crash tested twelve infant car seats at those same speeds. It’s actually a more rigorous test than the government currently requires.
"The government calls for front-crash tests at thirty miles an hour not thirty-five,” says Kim Kleman of Consumer Reports. “And there are no side-crash tests for car seats,” she continues. “Consumer Reports believes that car seats should withstand the same kind of crashes as the cars that carry them."
While testers found all but one of the seats met government standards, nine of the seats failed some or all of Consumer Reports’ tougher tests. During those tests some of the seats twisted violently and four actually flew off their bases. And the Evenflo Discovery seat did not even pass the government’s less stringent test.
"We've urged federal officials to order a recall of this seat," says Kleman.
Consumer Reports rated the Evenflo Discovery “Not acceptable”. In the end, only two seats did well enough in Consumer Reports’ tests to be recommended.
"So if you are going to be buying an infant seat, choose one of those," says Kleman.
They’re the Graco Snugride with EPS and the Baby Trend Flex-Loc. Both cost ninety dollars.
The following four infant seats did not perform well in Consumer Reports Tests using the latch system. But they did fine when tested with seat belts. If you own one of these seats, Consumer Reports recommends installing it with seatbelts. They are the:
Peg Perego Primo Viaggio SIP
Evenflo Embrace
Compass 1410
Chicco Keyfit
You can view Consumer Reports’ complete infant car seat crash test results at:
Friday, January 5, 2007
Consumer Reports just crash tested a dozen infant car seats at the same speeds governments use for rating the crash worthiness of most cars. The majority of infant seats did poorly and the video evidence is frightening.
The government crash tests many vehicles at thirty-five miles per hour. Side-crash tests are at thirty-eight miles per hour. Consumer Reports just crash tested twelve infant car seats at those same speeds. It’s actually a more rigorous test than the government currently requires.
"The government calls for front-crash tests at thirty miles an hour not thirty-five,” says Kim Kleman of Consumer Reports. “And there are no side-crash tests for car seats,” she continues. “Consumer Reports believes that car seats should withstand the same kind of crashes as the cars that carry them."
While testers found all but one of the seats met government standards, nine of the seats failed some or all of Consumer Reports’ tougher tests. During those tests some of the seats twisted violently and four actually flew off their bases. And the Evenflo Discovery seat did not even pass the government’s less stringent test.
"We've urged federal officials to order a recall of this seat," says Kleman.
Consumer Reports rated the Evenflo Discovery “Not acceptable”. In the end, only two seats did well enough in Consumer Reports’ tests to be recommended.
"So if you are going to be buying an infant seat, choose one of those," says Kleman.
They’re the Graco Snugride with EPS and the Baby Trend Flex-Loc. Both cost ninety dollars.
The following four infant seats did not perform well in Consumer Reports Tests using the latch system. But they did fine when tested with seat belts. If you own one of these seats, Consumer Reports recommends installing it with seatbelts. They are the:
Peg Perego Primo Viaggio SIP
Evenflo Embrace
Compass 1410
Chicco Keyfit
You can view Consumer Reports’ complete infant car seat crash test results at:
2 comments:
I added a picture to my profile just wanted to see if it works :)
Yup it did - sweet :)
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