Friday, January 19, 2007

Update on Consumers Report on failed infant car seats

Just a quick update on Consumers Reports testing on infant car seats... I posted here that 10 out of 12 infant car seats failed their testing.

You can go to Consumers Reports web site to see that they have withdrawn their initial study on infant car seats pending further tests of the performance of those seats in side-impact collisions.

A new report will be published with any necessary revisions as soon as possible after the new tests are complete.

The report was withdrawn immediately upon discovering a substantive issue that may have affected the original test results based on new information they received Tuesday night and Wednesday morning from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) concerning the speed at which their side-impact tests were conducted.

If I understand the speed they did the tests at may not have been simulated correctly. I think that NHTSA simulates speeds of 38 mph for side-impact crashes...

Okay -- we'll wait for the new report, but honestly, I must say that I'm not sure how many accidents occur at exactly 38 mph and if the speeds they tested at were higher than what NHTSA tests at, I'm okay with that. I want to know how well my infant car seat will perform under the most extreme situations I may be placed in while driving with my baby, because in my area, we drive at high speeds with a lot of crazy drivers ...

And ... the fact that a couple of the car seats just FLEW OFF THE BASE upon impact sounds bad. No matter how fast the test was performed. Unless, of course, the average American citizen driving with infants plans on enforcing a 30 mph speed limit within a cushy 2 block radius of their car, no matter where they may be driving! Wonder how we can actually do that.

Thanks to the hand full of Kisses of Sunshine readers that emailed me and alerted me of this new and important update!

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

I so agree with you Gibee, it is scary that those seats flew off at any speed! Another thing I found bizare in the new program was they mentioned that Canadian standards for infant car seats are higher than U.S. standards. Whaaaat? Should it not be straight across the board? Are they saying that the seats that might be rejected from sale in Canada can be sold to you in the States? Scary.

Julie said...

Thanks, Gibee...I'll make sure to let my daughter in law know of this 'new' news.

Anonymous said...

I believe that the speed the car seats were originially test at was 70 mph, but the report said that it was at 35 mph. I saw this on the news last night and I believe that is the concern with the original report. However, it is also scary that these seats could not survive a 70 mph crash...that is a crash on an interstate...scary!

Anonymous said...

Wow, that's interesting that they took it back. I want to know what the new results are though. Keep us posted if you can!