Evenflo's Response

[lodonal65]

Evenflo Company Statement: Consumer Reports Car Seat Review Not Consistent
With Federal Standards

Evenflo Car Seats Are Safe and Effective - Tested and Proven to Meet or

Exceed Government Standards

VANDALIA, Ohio, Jan. 3 /PRNewswire/ -- Evenflo Company, Inc. is deeply

concerned that Consumer Reports magazine has decided to publish an article

that may potentially alarm consumers about the safety of their infant child

restraints. The magazine decided to publish this article without

consultation with child seat manufacturers, even though the tests appear to

have been conducted in October and November of last year. Evenflo is

committed to manufacturing safe and highly effective car seats that meet or

exceed government standards. In addition, Evenflo subjects its car seats to

extensive testing both in-house and through independent laboratories to

ensure every car seat is compliant before initial sale of its products and

during ongoing production.

Despite our request, Consumer Reports has declined to provide us with

an advance copy of the article, and further declined to disclose in advance

of publication the pertinent information relating to its underlying test

conditions and protocols. This is especially unreasonable, given that the

magazine's test conditions and protocols appear to conflict with the

collective experience of car seat manufacturers, NHTSA and the scientific

community. Rigorous tests conducted by NHTSA and Evenflo have consistently

shown that both the Evenflo Discovery(R) and Evenflo Embrace(TM) exceed

government standards.

Without access to the full review of the data collected by Consumer

Reports, we are unable to provide a detailed assessment of the magazine's

findings; however, we can offer the following facts and observations about

the specific Evenflo products that the Consumer Reports article appears to

discuss:

Discovery infant child restraint

Since introducing the model 391 Discovery in April 2005, Evenflo has

conducted at least 200 dynamic tests at three different laboratories. Most

of these tests were conducted at test velocities that significantly

exceeded the forces under the NHTSA standard. None of the tests

demonstrated any back angle compliance issue. Additionally, NHTSA has twice

tested the model 391 Discovery and it passed all dynamic testing

requirements on each occasion. Thus, between Evenflo and NHTSA, there are

more than 200 passing tests regarding the Discovery at velocities that meet

or exceed the government standards. Evenflo unequivocally stands behind the

integrity of its test results and the Discovery(R) child restraint seat and

disputes the validity of the yet to be disclosed Consumer Reports tests.

Proper evaluation of those tests requires, at a minimum, information about

the test setup, the crash pulse, the dummy and any alterations from the

specifications in 49 CFR 572, as well as any deviations from the test

protocol set forth in FMVSS 213 and NHTSA document TP-213 Laboratory Test

Procedure for FMVSS 213. We have requested this information from Consumer

Reports as well as an opportunity to inspect the Discovery(R) units that

were actually tested.

Embrace infant child restraint

Evenflo likewise unequivocally stands behind its Embrace infant seat.

Evenflo disputes the validity of the yet to be disclosed Consumer Reports

test(s) and will review the testing information once provided by Consumer

Reports. Based on the limited information available to Evenflo at this

time, however, it appears that the testing protocol and equipment used by

Consumer Reports in connection with the Embrace infant seat does not

conform to test methods proposed or adopted by experts from academia,

industry, test agencies or government entities throughout the world. Put

simply, there are serious issues with both the test protocol and equipment

that cast serious doubt on the validity of the test results. Moreover,

Evenflo is unaware of any material difference in performance when the

Embrace infant seat is secured by the LATCH method or through use of the

vehicle seat belt.

All Evenflo car seats sold today meet thorough standards established by

NHTSA and are extensively tested by car seat manufacturers and the

government. Consumer Reports suggestion that the present standards should

be abandoned in favor of its protocol is inconsistent with real world

experience and well grounded input from the scientific community received

in connection with prior consideration by NHTSA to increase the child seat

crash test speed.

As noted by independent commentators, there is no evidence to suggest

that infant child restraints would generally be more effective to protect

children in real world crashes if designed to meet higher crash speeds. In

fact, such changes may be counterproductive to the overall safety of car

seats in real world accidents. Like other car seat manufacturers and NHTSA,

Evenflo is committed to manufacturing safe and highly effective child

restraint seats.

We urge consumers to demand proper disclosure and review of Consumer

Reports test results and to carefully weigh all relevant information before

drawing any conclusions based upon Consumer Reports forthcoming article.

About Evenflo

Committed to innovation, safety and comfort for more than 85 years,

Evenflo has been the trusted name in everything babies need to grow, go,

play and thrive. From bottles and high chairs to carriers and car seats,

Evenflo creates inspired products for today's active families worldwide.

Evenflo regularly taps into its Safe Baby and Toddler Council, a group

comprised of experts from key areas in the field of child care, to provide

product insights and research. More information can be found at

http://www.evenflo.com <http://www.evenflo.com/> .

SOURCE Evenflo

[Synchro246]

Like it matters if they meet government standards-- it's a major assumption to think that government standards are enough.
And they shouldn't need prior notice of the testing or the article. A well designed carseat should pass various tests done with or without the knowledge of the manufacturer.
This makes me feel a little like I do about the testing done in Florida public schools- teachers teach to the test instead of teaching, the result is poor outcome. The carseat manufacturers are designing to the government tests instead of designing for 100% for safety.

Maybe I'm wrong. . .

[Morganthe]

I understand what you're saying. IMO, US government standards are near a bare minimum level and set after lots of wrangling between lawmakers, manufacturers (complaining), and safety advocates. It's a negotiated truce and something to highly exceed, not just 'meet'.

To me, it's like dh working on a class paper and aiming for a "B" Grade with editing, style, info, & organization. We always bicker about how he goes about it. When I did class assignments, I would strive to do the best I absolutely could do. 95% of the time, it resulted in an "A" grade. I didn't care about what the teacher thought of it, it was what mattered most to me. I wanted to be proud of my product and didn't need the grade to confirm that I did well. It took a lot more time and work, but it made me feel great.

I think of the carseat manufacturers that state they meet "Government standards" are aiming for a C grade. They're acceptable in safety standards, but not anywhere the best they could be. These are children's lives at stake, so a high grade should be required in this issue. Since we have such low achievers, then the standards need to be raised. A "No child left behind" program for car seats, perhaps?

And that's just my lowly and humble opinion on the matter.