STANDARDS USED TO TEST CAR SEAT SAFETY CALLED INTO QUESTION
The Chicago Tribune has revealed test reports from the National Highway Transportation Safety Authority (NHTSA) that demonstrate that many car seats exceed injury limits. The data comes from crash tests performed by the NHTSA using 2008 model vehicles. The tests were intended to rate the safety of the cars, not the child restraint systems found inside. However, some of the child restrain systems showed remarkable levels of failure. For example, the Graco SafeSeat flew off its base during a crash.
In 2007, 63 babies were killed and about 7,000 were injured in car crashes where they were strapped into infant restraints.
It is apparent that the safety testing that has been performed to date need to be reevaluated. This research reveals that there is a difference between "sled bench" testing and testing that is performed in an actual vehicle. Before being sold, car seats must pass a test that simulates a head-on crash at 30 mph on a sled bench. In the analysis of the tests unearthed by the Tribune, regulators crashed actual vehicles into a wall at 35 mph.
Claybrook said the crash tests suggest something that is common sense: The effectiveness of car seats can be more thoroughly judged when evaluated inside a real car as it is crashed.
This data reveals that more rigorous testing is necessary to protect our most precious cargo, our children.
