safeinthecar
Moderator - CPS Technician
After a week of trying to contact him, I was able to talk to Russ this morning.
My questions for him were
1. What is the difference in performance in the Radian with and without the Safestop.
My reason for this is that my 7 yr old son is anarexic and his weight flucuates from about 39 to about 52 lbs. I can't weigh him on a daily basis as this is NOT a good idea for a child (or adult) with an eating disorder.
Russ answered that the safe stop significantly reduced the forces to the chest structure in testing. He said that a child of about 40 lbs has a must stronger, more robust bone and muscle build than smaller children than that. He also repeated that the safe stop was originally designed for children in the U.s. up to 48lbs, but that they changed the instructions to 40lbs to be consistant between U.S. and Canada ( I'm thinking so the SK reps wouldn't mix it up)
When I asked him how much the safe stop increased head excursion, he sai 2 inches with the 48lb dummy.
When I asked him how much under the head excursion limit the seat tested to, his reply was 3 inches under the limit with a 85lb dummy, and without the tether.
My parental choice: Since muscle and bone loss is a serious problem in children with ED,and since I will use it tethered except on rare occasions I will do this.
On the Radian I have now, I will use the Safestop for now. If DD5yrs old who also shares the seat, gets above 65lbs I will take it off. If I have to use the seat untethered, I will take it off. When the Recaro comes out and I have made a choice about whether to buy the Recaro, another Radian, or another Husky/Regent (probably not unless I can get some answers from Britax) to replace the MA I will weigh DS and reevaluate.
2. My second question was does the chest clip function as a restraining item or as a pre-crash positioner.
I asked this because
a) the chest clip really hurts my son because the has no padding at all on his chest, and
b) I actually have to loosen the harness to buckle the chest clip on my chubby DD. If I undo the chest clip I can tighten the harness another 2-3 inches.
c) another poster posted a letter from Russ that seemed to imply that the chest clip was manufacturer as a significant point of restraint. There's only one seat I know of that the chest clip has been part of the restraining system, and that is a special needs seat with a chest clip that is nothing at all like the ones on typical CS.
d) general knowledge, it's good to know what CS can be used without the chest clip if you deal with special needs children. For example, a child with a trach tube, or dialisys patients with a catheter in their necks should not use a seat with a chest clip. I get 4-5 calls about this a year.
Russ said that when he said that the chest clip on the Radian is more crashworthy that on most other seats, what he refered to was that it does not deform under stress from the crash and potentially become impossible to undue. ( note, chest clips generally either break open or slide down the harness in a crash, thus their use as pre-crash positioners only)
Russ said the SK chest clip does slide down the harness, but does not break open, or worse, break but refuse to open. Originally the seat was tested with a different chest clip that did break open. When I asked him what was the difference in performance with the old chest clip, and the new, he said that the chest clip made essencially no difference in the performance of the seat, and that the function of the harness is in no way dependent on the use of the chest clip.
My parental choice:
I'm going to ditch the chest clip.
(disclaimer) I'm in no way advocating these same choices to other people. I am providing the information I have for other people that may have the same questions. If you should choose to make the same choices I have, please be aware that you are choosing to use this seat contrary to manufacture instructions and may be voiding the warrenty of this seat.
Kimberly
My questions for him were
1. What is the difference in performance in the Radian with and without the Safestop.
My reason for this is that my 7 yr old son is anarexic and his weight flucuates from about 39 to about 52 lbs. I can't weigh him on a daily basis as this is NOT a good idea for a child (or adult) with an eating disorder.
Russ answered that the safe stop significantly reduced the forces to the chest structure in testing. He said that a child of about 40 lbs has a must stronger, more robust bone and muscle build than smaller children than that. He also repeated that the safe stop was originally designed for children in the U.s. up to 48lbs, but that they changed the instructions to 40lbs to be consistant between U.S. and Canada ( I'm thinking so the SK reps wouldn't mix it up)
When I asked him how much the safe stop increased head excursion, he sai 2 inches with the 48lb dummy.
When I asked him how much under the head excursion limit the seat tested to, his reply was 3 inches under the limit with a 85lb dummy, and without the tether.
My parental choice: Since muscle and bone loss is a serious problem in children with ED,and since I will use it tethered except on rare occasions I will do this.
On the Radian I have now, I will use the Safestop for now. If DD5yrs old who also shares the seat, gets above 65lbs I will take it off. If I have to use the seat untethered, I will take it off. When the Recaro comes out and I have made a choice about whether to buy the Recaro, another Radian, or another Husky/Regent (probably not unless I can get some answers from Britax) to replace the MA I will weigh DS and reevaluate.
2. My second question was does the chest clip function as a restraining item or as a pre-crash positioner.
I asked this because
a) the chest clip really hurts my son because the has no padding at all on his chest, and
b) I actually have to loosen the harness to buckle the chest clip on my chubby DD. If I undo the chest clip I can tighten the harness another 2-3 inches.
c) another poster posted a letter from Russ that seemed to imply that the chest clip was manufacturer as a significant point of restraint. There's only one seat I know of that the chest clip has been part of the restraining system, and that is a special needs seat with a chest clip that is nothing at all like the ones on typical CS.
d) general knowledge, it's good to know what CS can be used without the chest clip if you deal with special needs children. For example, a child with a trach tube, or dialisys patients with a catheter in their necks should not use a seat with a chest clip. I get 4-5 calls about this a year.
Russ said that when he said that the chest clip on the Radian is more crashworthy that on most other seats, what he refered to was that it does not deform under stress from the crash and potentially become impossible to undue. ( note, chest clips generally either break open or slide down the harness in a crash, thus their use as pre-crash positioners only)
Russ said the SK chest clip does slide down the harness, but does not break open, or worse, break but refuse to open. Originally the seat was tested with a different chest clip that did break open. When I asked him what was the difference in performance with the old chest clip, and the new, he said that the chest clip made essencially no difference in the performance of the seat, and that the function of the harness is in no way dependent on the use of the chest clip.
My parental choice:
I'm going to ditch the chest clip.
(disclaimer) I'm in no way advocating these same choices to other people. I am providing the information I have for other people that may have the same questions. If you should choose to make the same choices I have, please be aware that you are choosing to use this seat contrary to manufacture instructions and may be voiding the warrenty of this seat.
Kimberly
