Car Seat Safety Tests

[Lorikeet]

I feel like I have been endlessly googling for independent car seat safety tests to try to buy the safest one. I ended up buying a subscription to Which as they do some safety testing, but the information they provide is a bit scattered. They rate the 35 best buys (this is 35 seats across all groups), but it hasn't really helped me decide.

We are looking for a group 2/3 and originally bought the Maxi Cosi Rodi. We felt it was a bit flimsy, now I've noticed it only scored 3 stars on front crash.

The Britax Kid Fix Isofix scored better, 4 stars on both front and side impact.

The (expensive) Concord Transformer XT looks very good and sturdy, again only 3 stars on front crash testing.
Does anyone know of other independent testing?

[JaquesTouatte]

Have a look at the Recaro Young Sport. It has a five-point harness, and is very reasonably priced. (You can get it cheaper elsewhere, that site is informative, though.)

[OADCB]

I have the young sport. STM starlight is another name.

Op would you mind telling ms the safety rating for it snd the grace junior

[OADCB]

And the side for the transformer

[JaquesTouatte]

I would expect the Recaro to score higher in both frontal and side, due to the 5-point harness. I'm interested to see what Lorikeet finds.

[OADCB]

Hope so. Have now had to remove 5 point though as over 18kg

A friend commented how hers was so much better. Would love to know!

[JaquesTouatte]

"Have now had to remove 5 point though as over 18kg"

Aw shite. Now that I look again, it says that on the link I posted. I was googling for a seat that had a 5-point harness for up to 12yo.

[OADCB]

Try phil and teds tott not tott xt though.

Harness up to 25kg according to instructions.

Don't know who stock it though and precious little ones and bambino direct both have tott seat as image for the tott xt so don't be misled.

Otherwise britax two way elite is up to 25kg

[Lorikeet]

Recaro Young Sport received 3 stars on both the front and side crash tests, remember this is Which crash tests, which are the only ones I can find.

The Phil & Teds model mentioned above was not tested by Which.

I think I'll have to buy the Britax KidFix which had 4 stars for each.

Loopymummy, what is the RF site?

[Lorikeet]

I do wish a government body, such as The Department for Transport, were responsible for performing independent tests on car seats (like in many other countries). This way they could regulate which ones meet UK standards, and publish a table of results. Afterall we all want the safest one really.

[JaquesTouatte]

Lori, they all meet the standard, otherwise they would not be allowed to be sold. However, apart from that, I agree completely.

I used to get Which? but stopped as I found their tests to be trite (as you said, 35 best buys!!??) What criteria do they actually test on?
Euroncap do tests of cars, it is a pity they do not also do tests of different child seats.

Some of the Googling I did brought up MN, and these two links might be useful Car seats from birth and Car seats from nine months Once I have gone through them, I will get back.

[JaquesTouatte]

Right, I've had a look at those MN links.
There are three categories:
Ease of installation
Portability
Value for money

As you said Lori, 'we all want the safest one really', which means those tests are of little use.

[KathyLam]

Just wanna share a very good tool for helping to choose the right car seat. I came across this iphone app on app store called "BabySeatMate" (www.babyseatmate.com). It measures the angle of recline of the seat which I think is an excellent idea! I tried it quickly on my son's seat setup today and found that it is a bit too recline. I hope it will be useful for you mums as well :-) Have a good day.

[Lorikeet]

Thanks KathyLam - I love a good iPhone app, am downloading as I type.

btw - I decided on the Britax KidFix in the end.

[TRLChildSafetyCentre]

//www.trl.co.uk/certification/child_seat_ratings.htm
Contains independent ratings of car seats

[TRLChildSafetyCentre]

Ask you retailer to show you their TRL independently rated car seats. The ratings will be on the seat itself, in store. You don't have to trawl the internet or buy magazines to find the ratings for these seats. If more people are ask their retailers for TRL rated seats, more manufacturers will provide the information.
Beware of paying too much money without understanding whether you are paying for performance or for a brand name.
This link will take you to an interesting report and certainly worth bearing in mind when purchasing a new seat. //www.trl.co.uk/online_store/reports_publications/trl_reports/cat_road_user_safety/report_child_car_seat_safety_and_usability_ratings.htm