AccessMyLibrary provides FREE access to over 30 million articles from top publications available through your library.
Create a link to this page
Copy and paste this link tag into your Web page or blog:
Car seats update.(child safety seats)(Product/service evaluation)
In our new tests of infant car seats, all performed adequately in simulated head-on crashes at 30 mph, the government standard. But we found differences in how easy the seats are to use and how securely they fit in a variety of vehicles--measures important to the safest ride for your baby.
For our latest tests, we re-evaluated 11 of 12 models we tested for a February 2007 report that we retracted because of testing errors. (One model, the Eddie Bauer Comfort, has since been discontinued and is no longer available.)
In the flawed February report, we attempted to test infant car seats in simulated 35-mph front and 38-mph side crashes. Those are the speeds that vehicles themselves are routinely subjected to in government tests for crashworthiness. The article reported widespread failures of the car seats, but the testing errors resulted in our withdrawal of those Ratings. (For details, see "How Our Car Seat Tests Went Wrong," in the May 2007 issue.)
All the infant seats we tested are rear-facing carrier models that snap in and out of a base. The base connects to the car by means of the vehicle's safety belts or LATCH attachments. LATCH, which stands for Lower Anchors and Tethers for Children, includes fasteners that connect the base to metal anchors in the car.
HOW WE TESTED
We conducted the crash tests at an independent contract lab, a different one from the lab we used previously. In the tests, a 22-pound dummy, simulating an average 12-month-old, is secured in the infant seat. The seat is attached to a piston-driven "sled" that mirrors the acceleration vehicle occupants would undergo in a 30-mph head-on collision into a rigid barrier. The government requires that all car seats and boosters on the market withstand a frontal impact at this speed.
We crash-tested each seat at least twice so that we could check performance using vehicle safety belts to secure the base and, separately, using LATCH attachments. Two independent consultants worked with us to review the tests.
- Product Recall News.(Kolcraft Secura infant car seats; Answer/Manitou BMX and...
- Newspaper article from: Pediatrics for Parents September 1, 1999 700+ words
Infant Car Seats Product: 754,000 Kolcraft Secura infant car seats model 36861 made between 1/1/93 and 1/30/99. The seat is part...
- Sales of Infant Car Seats Reach $5 Million on eBay.
- Press release article from: PR Newswire December 13, 2007 700+ words
...More than $5 million worth of infant car seats were sold on eBay.com in 2006...volume and revenue, according to Infant Car Seats: Online Industry Insights powered...shows that more than 61,000 infant car seats were sold through eBay in 2006...
- Car seats/carriers by Evenflo. (what's happening).(Evenflo Company Inc. recalls...
- Magazine article from: The Exceptional Parent July 1, 2001 700+ words
Evenflo Co., Inc., is recalling about 3.4 million Joyride[R] infant car seats/carriers. When the seat is used as a carrier, the handle can unexpectedly release and cause the seat to fall forward. The...
- Kolcraft Initiates Safety Notification to Adjust Infant Car Seats
- Press release article from: PR Newswire November 13, 1996 700+ words
...Chicago-based manufacturer of infant car seats, is voluntarily initiating...said that a limited number of infant car seats were produced with a misaligned...quality and reliability of their infant car seats." Kolcraft has alerted the...
- FISHER-PRICE RELABELS INFANT CAR SEATS
- Press release article from: PR Newswire December 15, 1994 700+ words
...this way.) However, on car seats manufactured in September...will not be recalling the Infant Car Seat from consumers...crash worthiness of the car seats, and parents should continue...have questions about the Infant Car Seat label may call Fisher...
- Graco Announces Voluntary Recall of Stand-Alone SnugRide Infant Car Seats...
- Press release article from: PR Newswire March 12, 2003 700+ words
...000 stand-alone SnugRide infant car seats equipped with a base manufactured...and March 6, 2003. SnugRide infant car seats sold as part of a travel system...that a small number of SnugRide infant car seats may have missing hardware used...
- Infant car seats/carriers recalled.
- News wire article from: United Press International July 8, 1999 700+ words
...670,000 Arriva and Turnabout infant car seats/carriers that Consumer Product...continue using these rear-facing infant car seats, but should not use the carrying...involves Arriva and Turnabout infant car seat/carrier models manufactured...
- CPSC, NHTSA and Cosco Announce Recall of Infant Car Seats/Carriers.
- Press release article from: PR Newswire July 8, 1999 700+ words
...670,000 Arriva and Turnabout infant car seats/carriers. When used as an...continue using these rear-facing infant car seats, but should not use the carrying...WHAT Cosco Arriva and Turnabout infant car seats/carriers. Arriva Turnabout...