True Side Impact Protection?

[Confused Dad]

Me and the Wife like the Britax Marathon, little one is 12 bs, 3 months, but looking at his next seat. Britax USA has said that Side impatct Protection will be where they are heading..why is it that no seats here have that in the second stage RF/FF combo. Why don't we get the Britax Boulevard? Is there anything like the marathon that has TSIP coming to canada soon. Thanks in advance.

[UlrikeDG]

Check out the posts here (http://www.car-seat.org/showthread.php?p=252011#poststop) and here (http://www.car-seat.org/showthread.php?p=221617#poststop).

[Unregistered]

I too have been searching high and low for the Britax Boulevard convertible car seat here in Canada because of the True-Impact Airbag Protection. I know a lady here in Calgary that is a Certified Child Restraint System Technician. She called down to the US Britax on my behalf (since that is where Canada would get their's from) and found out that the Britax Boulevard is coming to Canada! It will be here mid June 2008. I know that ToysRUs will have it in their 'warehouse' (not the stores) June 21, 2008, but not sure of any other store. She herself uses the Britax Marathon. I was going to wait for the Boulevard too (and may still purchase it later), but it looks like the Britax Marathon will work almost the same. Check out the testimonials of people who have been in major accidents: http://www.britaxusa.com/safety/Default.aspx?ID=TSIP

NOTE: All car seats are not made equal. When you're in the store next, look beneath the seat cover. You'll see how they are made. That's an eye-opener.

PS Internationally, Britax is the best car seat manufacturer out there.

Other clips from my conversation with her:

- The EPS foam used in the Britax seats is a energy absorbing foam which the technical term is "True-Impact Airbag Protection."

- The new Britax on the market will accommodate a child up til 65 LBS in the harness. The reasons why I love this seat is it has EPS foam which they use in hockey helmets, can be tethered rear facing, easy installation with latch system and has one of the best ratings all over the world. Go to www.britaxusa.com and view the crash testing and other info. 2nd other recommedation is the Radian made by Sunshine Kids in Canada. One important message is to try the seat in your vehicle and make sure it fits your child's development.

Good Luck!

[snowbird25ca]

I too have been searching high and low for the Britax Boulevard convertible car seat here in Canada because of the True-Impact Airbag Protection. I know a lady here in Calgary that is a Certified Child Restraint System Technician. She called down to the US Britax on my behalf (since that is where Canada would get their's from) and found out that the Britax Boulevard is coming to Canada! It will be here mid June 2008. I know that ToysRUs will have it in their 'warehouse' (not the stores) June 21, 2008, but not sure of any other store. She herself uses the Britax Marathon. I was going to wait for the Boulevard too (and may still purchase it later), but it looks like the Britax Marathon will work almost the same. Check out the testimonials of people who have been in major accidents: http://www.britaxusa.com/safety/Default.aspx?ID=TSIP

The side impact protection is not like an airbag - it's called True Side Impact Protection. The reason it's referred to as that is because of the side wings. Any seat with EPS/EPP foam is going to offer side impact protection. And all seats being approved in Canada now have to have energy absorbing material in any area that could be contacted by a child's head during a crash. Britax has patented the TSIP name, that doesn't mean other seats don't provide SIP.

Most properly used and installed seats are going to protect a child in a collision. It is the vehicle itself that provides the primary protection to the occupants. Provided the seat is installed and used correctly, any seat that meets CMVSS standards should protect the child. It is impossible to state that another seat wouldn't have protected the child as well. Especially when you take into account the high number of seats with EPS or EPP foam in the head area now. The people who have posted their testimonials have posted them because those are the seats their kids were riding in and their kids were fine. There is no definitive way to say that it's all because they were riding in a Britax. There's no way to know that.

NOTE: All car seats are not made equal. When you're in the store next, look beneath the seat cover. You'll see how they are made. That's an eye-opener.

PS Internationally, Britax is the best car seat manufacturer out there.

I have to strongly disagree with you on this. There is no such thing as the best car seat or the best car seat manufacturer. The Canadian CRST curriculum also does not teach techs to tell a parent that one seat is safer than another.

All carseats with the CMVSS sticker - ie all seats certified for use in Canada, pass the same minimum standards. Until manufacturers release their crash test data, there is no way to know that any particular seat performs better than another.

So in that regard, all seats are made equal. Each seat has different things that may be beneficial... EPS or EPP foam used to fall into this category. Since it's now part of the CMVSS standards to have energy absorbing material anywhere the child's head can contact during a crash, most seats now contain it and manufacturers are redesigning their current seats in order to comply with the current standards. So in not too long we should see EPP/EPS foam on all seats sold in Canada.

Some seats do have features that make it easier for a parent to install it and/or use it correctly. In that regard some seats are better than others. That doesn't mean that they're safer though - any properly installed and properly used seat is going to provide protection to a child in a crash.

Other clips from my conversation with her:

- The EPS foam used in the Britax seats is a energy absorbing foam which the technical term is "True-Impact Airbag Protection."

- The new Britax on the market will accommodate a child up til 65 LBS in the harness. The reasons why I love this seat is it has EPS foam which they use in hockey helmets, can be tethered rear facing, easy installation with latch system and has one of the best ratings all over the world. Go to www.britaxusa.com and view the crash testing and other info. 2nd other recommedation is the Radian made by Sunshine Kids in Canada. One important message is to try the seat in your vehicle and make sure it fits your child's development.

The Britax MA has accomodated children up to 65lbs since Sept 07 dates of manufacture. EPS stands for "expanded poly-styrene" foam. Yes, it's energy absorbing foam and it's the same type used in some bicycle helmets. Some manufacturers use EPP foam. EPP is denser and less prone to breaking. It's more sturdy and can absorb more energy. Where the term "airbag" is coming from in the information you've been given I really can't tell you. Airbags inflate with great force in order to protect an occupant from contacting the vehicle surfaces. You wouldn't want something like that inflating next to your child's head...

The Sunshine kids Radian is a seat highly recommended around here. And she is 100% right about the trying it in your vehicle to make sure it's compatible.

Here's some other info though - the evenflo triumph advance has EPP foam. The top harness height is slightly higher than a MA, and it has a 47lb ff'ing weight limit. Most kids outgrow the MA by weight before 50lbs anyways, so a 47lb weight limit isn't a big deal. It's also half the price of the MA. No, it doesn't rf tether, but there is great debate about whether rf tethering is actually beneficial or not. My educated opinion is that it's not a make or break decision in most instances. I do it with seats that allow it, but I don't consider it a feature that increases the safety of a seat.

[snowbird25ca]

I just want to add that I'm not arguing that the Britax seats are nice seats. I'm simply saying it cannot be said that they are the best and the safest. There is no data to back this up. Testimonials are fine and dandy, but the truth is another seat may have performed equally as well.

One other thing worth noting, is that some kids hate the side wings on the blvd. Also, broad children may become uncomfortable in the seat when they start nearing the height limits.

I own a MA, an EFTA, and a Radian. My favorite of the 3 is the EFTA, and despite having 2 seats that can be tethered rf'ing, the EFTA is the one I've chosen to use rf'ing.

According to the most recent info, Britax is shipping the blvd, diplomat and frontier to Canada by the end of June. The seats should be available at all current Britax retailers. You may find them at online retailers first - I know that babyproofingplus.com often gets seats within a month of them coming off the assembly line, so they may be one of the first to get the new seats. Price point on the blvd will be $320. The MA price may drop we're guessing otherwise people will just pay the $20 extra to get the BLVD.

(And I will say I'm looking forward to starting to see the new Britax seats at clinics. I do get excited when I see a MA at a check - but I'd feel similarly if I got a Radian or an EFTA. I much prefer them to the 3in1 seats - but not because they're safer than the other seats. I prefer them for the extended length of use.

I just really have to reiterate that there is no safest seat. And I should also say that there is no side impact crash test standards in either the US or Canada. What that means, is that a manufacturer is free to label their seat as having side impact protection, and they don't have to have proof to back it up. :twocents:

[southpawboston]

The EPS foam used in the Britax seats is a energy absorbing foam which the technical term is "True-Impact Airbag Protection."

that makes no sense. as another poster already mentioned EPS stands for expanded polystyrene and believe it or not, it's what styrofoam is made out of. yes, those cheap disposable coolers, as well as packaging peanuts, are made from EPS. although it is very low-tech and has been around for decades, EPS has nearly ideal energy redistribution properties and that is why it is used in helmets and carseats. EPP (expanded polypropylene) is more resilient, less brittle, but doesn't have as nice energy redistribution properties as EPS.