Consumer Reports dropped a bombshell on the car
seat market Thursday, previewing a February 2007 article
in which the magazine will reveal that 10 out of 12 infant car seats failed
their independent crash test.

In a
nutshell, Consumer Reports decided to make their test tougher than the
government’s test—and as a result, many seats that PASSED the US government
test failed the CR test. Instead of putting seats through a 30 mph test (the
federal standard), CR tested to 35mph and then added a new twist: a 35 mph SIDE
IMPACT test.

Consumer
Reports dropped a bombshell on the car seat market Thursday, previewing a
February 2007 <a
href=”http://www.consumerreports.org:80/cro/babies-kids/child-car-booster-seats/car-seats-2-07/overview/0207_seats_ov.htm”
target=”NewWindow”>article in which the magazine will reveal that
10 out of 12 infant car seats failed their independent crash
test.

In a nutshell, Consumer Reports
decided to make their test tougher than the government’s test—and as a result,
many seats that PASSED the US government test failed the CR test. Instead of
putting seats through a 30 mph test (the federal standard), CR tested to 35mph
and then added a new twist: a 35 mph SIDE IMPACT
test.

The car seat makers must be shell
shocked at this moment, as ALL brands had at least one seat fail. But the
manufacturers have only themselves to blame—many have been busy rolling out
models that claim increased side impact protection (Peg Perego’s Primo Viaggio
“SIP,” Britax’s marketing, etc). CR could rightly claim it is just calling the
seat maker?s bluff.

Of course, that
doesn’t mean all seats that claim side impact protection are unsafe in, say, a
side impact collision. But I imagine the companies will think long and hard
about puffing up claims about safety . . . without making sure the seats can
perform in the real world.

To be fair,
the federal government does NOT require seats to be side-impact crash tested. So
the companies can legitimately claim their seats DO pass current standards . . .
. but shame on makers like Britax, which clearly plays the safety card in its
marketing. Their Companion infant seat failed CR’s 35 mph crash (after passing
the 30 mph test).

And let’s not let
Consumer Reports off the hook: once again, they do an expert job of generating
headlines about failed car seats . . . but refuse to share DETAILS about how the
tests where conducted and specifics about which seats failed certain tests.
Instead, we get oblique lines like
this:

When we performed
side-impact tests at 38 mph, eight models failed. Four of the seats flew out of
their bases.

Which seats failed the
side impact tests? Who knows! While CR includes a summary of the results in
their <a
href=”http://www.consumerreports.org/cro/babies-kids/child-car-booster-seats/reports/child-car-seats-ratings/ratings-child-car-seats/latest-ratings/index.htm”
target=”NewWindow”>ratings, we only know that 2 seats passed
all the
tests (the Graco SnugRide and Baby Trend
Flex-Loc). CR warns that four other seats (Chicco KeyFit, Compass I410, Evenflo
Embrace, or Peg Perego Primo Viaggio SIP) should be used with vehicle safety
belts (NOT LATCH), since those seats peformed worse with LATCH.

As we have blogged <a
href=”https://www.babybargains.com/blog/B40737805/C1649430445/E730854046/index.html”
target=”NewWindow”>before, CR can’t call for others to be more
transparent without applying the same standard to itself. To that end, we’d like
to see CR’s results peer-reviewed before being released to the public. That
means a panel of safety techs double checks the crash test results. And CR
should divulge the raw crash testing data on its web site—all the seats, all
the tests, all the results. Spoon-feeding us a summary is fine for the magazine,
but use the web to give us the detailed info. Come on,
CR.

We’d also like to see CR explain how
the very same seats can score differently in its tests from 2005 vs 2007.
Example: in the May 2005 test, the Peg Primo Viaggio SIP scored a “very good” in
the crash test for LATCH. Now it is 2007 and the seat (very similar in design,
with added side impact protection) gets the LOWEST rating (poor). Huh? Was this
because CR changed the test? No one
knows.

CR’s behavior opens itself up for
criticism that distracts from the main debate—there SHOULD be a federal
standard for side-impact car seat testing (while these crashes only account for
a very small percentage of fatalities to children in car seats, there should be
SOME standard). And the government should publish five-star ratings for car seat
tests, just like they do for cars. Yet, thanks to CR’s behavior, witness the
ridiculous <a
href=”http://jpma.org/index2.cfm?section=News&content=carSeatResponse”
target=”NewWindow”>response of the Juvenile Products Manufacturers
Association to the controversy.

The JPMA
says, don’t worry, be happy! Apparently, the JPMA’s lawyers pulled an
all-nighter to whip out sympathetic government statements (complete with dock
number!) to say that, hey, we don’t need tougher tests! And if we did, it would
make car seats cost more! That’s embarrassing for an organization that
shamelessly promotes a Baby Safety Month and a product safety certification
program . . . yes, we believe in safety,
but only if the government mandates us to do it.

What the JPMA SHOULD have done is
say that it takes CR’s tests (and call for greater car seat safety)
seriously—and it will launch an investigation into whether seats should be
recalled, standards should change, etc. The JPMA should work with CR to make
things better, instead of issuing press releases telling parents not to look
behind the curtain.

So, let’s sum it up.
Here’s the take-home message:

?CURRENT infant car seats
like we recommend in BABY BARGAINS (such as the Graco Snug Ride) are safe.

? If you have one of the seat’s CR said
didn’t perform well with LATCH (like the Peg Perego seat), use it with the
vehicle belts.
? No matter what infant
car seat you have, get it safety inspected! This ensures you have it properly
installed. See our book for sources.
?
If you are using one of the seat’s CR says should be recalled (the Evenflo
Discovery, Eddie Bauer Comfort), STOP using it immediately and seek an
alternative seat.

We will continue to
cover this story in coming days. Stay tuned to our blog for the latest updates
and fallout.