Breaking News: Consumer Reports withdraws controversial car seat report

In
a stunning turnaround, Consumer Reports today withdrew its controversial infant
car seat report in which many seats failed.

Here is the CR statement, as posted on
their web site:

CONSUMER
REPORTS WITHDRAWS INFANT
CAR SEAT REPORT
Move is made pending additional testing now
underway

NEW YORK (Jan. 18) —
Consumer
Reports is withdrawing its recent report 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.

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

The original study,
published in the February issue of
Consumer
Reports, was aimed at discovering how infant
seats performed in tests at speeds that match those used in the
government?s New Car Assessment Program (NCAP). This program tests most
new vehicles in crashes at speeds of 35 mph for frontal impact and 38 mph for
side impact. Child safety seats, in contrast, are currently tested only in
front-impact crashes at speeds of 30
mph.

Our tests were intended to simulate
side crashes at the NCAP speed of 38 mph. The new information raises a question
about whether the tests accurately simulated that speed, however, so we are now
reviewing our tests and the resulting
article.

To those who may have seen the
report earlier in print, on the Web, or in broadcasts, we urge you to remember
that use of any child seat is safer than no child seat, but to suspend judgment
on the merits of individual products until the new testing has been completed
and the report re-published.

We
appreciate that manufacturers and particularly NHTSA are engaging directly with
us on this article, and we applaud NHTSA for giving serious consideration to
development of side-impact child seat tests.
Consumer
Reports has long advocated adoption of such
tests, since government data shows that side crashes account for a significant
number of child fatalities.

We look
forward to re-issuing guidance on child-seat safety as soon as
possible.
—
Here
is the NHTSA’s statement on this matter:

Statement From National Highway
Traffic Safety Administrator Nicole Nason Regarding
Consumer
Reports? Withdrawal of Its
Infant Car Seat Test Report
?Consumer
Reports was right to withdraw its infant car
seat test report and I appreciate that they have taken this corrective action.
We are always eager to work with Consumer
Reports and other organizations to improve child
safety and ensure that consumers continue to have access to accurate and
credible data. I was troubled by the report because it frightened parents and
could have discouraged them from using car seats. It is absolutely essential for
every parent to understand that the safest place in an automobile for an infant
is in a car seat. Simply put, car seats are the best defense for a child in a
crash.

?Our initial review of the
Consumer
Reports testing procedures showed a significant
error in the manner in which it conducted and reported on its side-impact tests.
The organization?s data show its side-impact tests were actually conducted
under conditions that would represent being struck in excess of 70 mph, twice as
fast as the group claimed. When NHTSA tested the same child seats in conditions
representing the 38.5 mph conditions claimed by
Consumer
Reports, the seats stayed in their bases as they
should, instead of failing dramatically.?