car seat safety questioned

[MissChief]

Today programme mentioned Which report into safety of child car seats. I think 10 were mentioned as only meeting min standards (crash at 30 mph), they tested in more severe circs and appallingly, found that several top sellers inc from Britax and Mamas and Papas disintegrated on impact at higher speeds. Does anyone have a link
on the complete top 10? Truly awful that such well-regarded brand names are only conforming to the safety miniumums..

[Caligula]

No link but I was shocked that they're only tested at 30mph. Most of my driving is done on motorways, at at least 60. Are they saying there's no point in having a car seat if you do more than 40 (the best quality tested ones)?

[katierocket]

audio link here
bbc click on the 'audio link' on teh left

[katierocket]

on the right, sorry

[Anteater]

It was a WHICH survey I think..
I guess an ISOFIX Mumsnet demo is on the cards here?!

[morocco]

I thought I heard as well a spokesman from mamas and papas saying they would be happy to meet higher standards if the government raised the safety standards - couldn't they do that already then? really shocked that britax is amongst the brands named - i thought they had an excellent reputation

[MissChief]

thanks Katie,
Gist of criticism seems to be that many models only conform to minimum rather than taking on board new tech which manufacturers could use to enable car seats to be much safer (ie they're being incredibly slack ). And yes, they only have to be tested and conform to standards in a crash at 30mph - not realistic nowadays!

[MissChief]

sorry not with it yet, what's a ISOFIX demo? great idea to collaborate to complain to manufacturers though

[Anteater]

Misschief
Its one of those 'nothing will change till the mass's rise situations' Womens vote, Mandella African debt etc

The Technology is in place for very safe car seats with rigid fixing but its big business holding it back..

[lemonice]

Can't do links to threads\link{ www.mumsnet.com/Talk?topicid=1012&threadid=81598\but see the other thread on Car seat belt crunch}.

[Xena]

It doesn't help that atm britax have the rights to isofix. It makes me so mad that they have made cars safer and safer but done nothing about child seats.
I wrote before on here before that the Maxi cosi scored nothing on front collision but that same month Mother and Baby gave it top marks for its safety features WTF? I did email them to complain but they never replied.

[Anteater]

Rigid Fixing NOW!

[Bramshott]

Is it the fixing? I had heard that it was the buckles which don't stand up well in a crash (can fly open). Clearly it's one of those things which you hope will never happen, but I was surprised when I heard something which seemed to imply that the buckle seats are less safe than the ones you can get (for slightly older children) which use the adult belt. Agree that it's not very helpful to have a news item which says "car seats aren't safe" without more info on (a) which seats, (b) what isn't safe about them! Will look for more info and post here if I find anything.

[Anteater]

Yes I had heard talk about the buckles..
The whole car seat concept is based on the manufacturers doing as little as pos. So you have surveys carried out on compromised products, of course different testers will come out with different answers..

A childs car seat imo should be

rear facing

have a shock absorbers built in (like the mountain bikes)

Have far more head padding, (like F1)

have rigid fixing

Have damping to control the whiplash

What is needed is a Dyson car seat...NEW THOUGHT PLEASE!

The end product would be no more exspensive than the current crop of PRETTY, FEEL GOOD seats.

[Hulababy]

You can also get a Jane ISOFIX seat (says from 9 months, but uses car's seat belt so really from a fair bit older than that). There is also a Recaro ISOFIX car seat.

We have the Britax (9m to 4y) ISOFIX and the Jane ISOFIX seats for DD. Have to say that we are really pleased with them, and TBH they are not that much more expensive than a lot of the higher spec non-isofix car seats now. And they are very firmly in place once connected - which takes seconds. Worth every penny for that extra reassurance IMO.

[cherith]

Our car was stolen by joy riders. It was in a crash with a parked car. Our car was written off. Should i buy a new car seat for my 11 month old baby as the car seat does not look damaged and the baby was not in it at the time?

[Hulababy]

I would get a new one. The damage may be a weakening of the seat structure or something. Can you claim on your insurance?

[cherith]

No third party only. (very poor) Mother in law helped out with new car.

[toria77]

safety guidelines say ALWAYS replace car seats if they have been in crash EVEN if there is no visibke damage.

[toria77]

visible

[katierocket]

just found out that we have one of these "inadequate" seats - Britax Trio - cost £90; really makes me angry that they just do the bare minimum.

[Gwenick]

I'm sure a WHICH report came out about this last year too..........sure I remember discussing it on BW.....

[Xena]

Sorry Hulababy I was miss in formed about the isofixs only coming from Britax that is what the man at the land rover dealership told me.
Can anyone do me a link to the 10 inadaquate seats please??

[MamaMaiasaura]

I have the graco booster seat for ds aged 5 which on the face of it appeared to be very safe.. now am confused as to which sort of seat to go for.

[misdee]

will definatly be gettig isofix xar seat now.

[csa]

xena, don't have the link but from the bbc website, these are the 10 car seats, in no particular order :

Britax Cruiser Plus
Britax Ranger
Britax Trio
Mamas & Papas Navetta Carry Cot
Mamas & Papas Elan
Mamas & Papas Passaggio.
Concord Trimax X-Line
Meggy Kombi
Storchenmuhle Starlight SP
Graco Junior Plus

hth