Question radian 100 safety concern - Canada

I have a radian 100 installed FF drivers side in a 2006 Acura TSX for my 5 yr old DS
noticed a recent issue, not sure if this is normal or a problem
if I tighten the straps by pulling up (which is easier as space is tight) the locking cam does not always always automatically engage, leaving the straps able to loosen under even light pressure. Pushing down on the cam does fully engage it leaving things secure again. if I tighten by pulling down, the cam engages every time.

I am not sure if this is just a case of following a different procedure for strapping in but it worries me as one time I missed the checking step and DS informed me his straps were not locked as we pulsed away. I am afraid I could miss it again and be unaware he is not properly protected.

is this normal for a radian?
is there a fix?
should I replace the seat or report the issue, if so to whom?

I live in Canada
all our other seats are Britax type (frontier, boulevard, marathon) and I have never seen this issue before on any of them.

Re: radian 100 safety concern

I have heard to issue before. Please report it to transport Canada. Also, call Diono.

Re: radian 100 safety concern

Here is the form to report it to Transport Canada https://wwwapps.tc.gc.ca/Saf-Sec-Sur/7/PCDB-BDPP/Index.aspx

It is definitely an issue and there have been recalls issued for similar problems with other seats.

Re: radian 100 safety concern

Thank you for the quick feedback and the reporting link.
I have filed the report to transport canada and will follow up with diono as soon a possible.

Have you heard what diono's response or fix has been for people who had this issue before.
I am still using the seat (but with lots of double checking from me and my son each time) but would be ready to pull it and get a new seat if they cannot offer a good solution to improve safety. I am simply not comfortable using it long term as it would be very easy in the usual chaos of getting kids loaded up to forget to check and be in a hidden failure condition.

Any suggestions for other narrow seats than Radian's (for DS 5 yrs 1 month, 40 lbs, 42.5" tall)
I prefer to keep a 5 point harness as long as possible, my guy is a squirmer and not mature enough to stay in place with just a belt quite yet.
I liked the fit of the radian but it would be a tough sell at home until i have confidence i wont have the same problem on a new seat if it is a design weakness rather than simply a manufacturing defect of some sort.

What slot is DS on in the Radian? That will help determine torso height.

Any other seats in play?

The radian will be pretty close to the narrowest seat, but you could look at the Evenflo Securekid 400. Harness to 65 and then boosters to 100. Top slot is approx 18in so a bit above the radian slots.

Also, the britax frontier has 20in top slots. Harnesses to 65lbs and boosters to 120lbs.

Re: radian 100 safety concern

Worried Dad said:

Have you heard what diono's response or fix has been for people who had this issue before.

Click to expand...

I know there was a member here who got her seat replaced due to this same issue. She is in the US but it shouldn't make a difference. I tried to find the thread but was unsuccessful.

Can you please make sure Transport Canada has a chance to follow-up with your file before you, for example, turn the defective seat over to Diono. It's important that a third party investigate these issues, and in Canada it is TC who deals with defective child restraints. If TC decides they want the seat for investigatory purposes they will also help you acquire a new seat.

I actually received an email from someone named Kevin McClafferty saying he works for southwest collision analysis and they conduct field investigations for transport Canada.
They are arranging to see the seat next week. I must say I was pleasantly surprised at getting a response from TC.

Looking at the seat today i see what i think may be the source of the problem.

Covering the locking cam that secures the harness from slipping is a small cloth flap that velcro's down into place.
The underside of this flap has a plastic pocket added with a card in it to hold some sort of child information
When the flap is securely velcroed down or if it is held down (say by a child's leg) the open edge of the plastic pocket can catch and hold the cam, preventing it from flipping down and locking the harness.

Could anyone else who has a Radian 100 seat look at this area and see if you can duplicate this problem. It looks like if the cam catches even once it will pull and stretch the plastic a bit, making it that much more likley for the problem to happen again.

The Transport Canada inspector will see the seat tuesday, and i will pass on anything pertinent they may say at that time.

I will contact Diono after my discussions with the TC inspectors. I agree fully with the suggestion to let this be looked at by a 3rd party first rather than the manufacturer. Thank you for the good guidance.

I am trying to attach a few images to illustrate the problem as well. Hopefully they work.





Thank you

Oh wow! I that is such a poor spot to put the info card!

That *is*a bad spot! Beides the issue in question, in an emergency, would anyone even think to look there? My older Radians have an emergency card that is attached to a short plastic string to loop through the upper seat back.

I've seen the cover problem in a seat before and it was being caused by the width of the opening for accessing the adjuster lever being narrower than the adjuster lever and as the child's legs got heavy enough to press down on the cover it was holding the adjuster mechanism up. This was a few years ago now that I saw the problem and it was reported to TC then but I don't know what ever came of it.

(In the case of that seat, based on the way that it locked down, it appeared to not be a risk to the child as long as the lever was down after having tightened the harness. Even when it got "caught" up, under rapid pulling on the straps, the force made the adjuster mechanism pop down and hold the harness straps tight with only about 1" of extra slack going in to them. This doesn't make it a non-issue, but in that case the family continued using the seat while they dealt with the company.)

That card IS in a stupid place for a multitude of reasons. The plastic on my cover has ripped already which is fine - we have Child Save stickers on our seats anyway. It doesn't surprise me in the least that the plastic can get caught in the adjuster.

The bigger issue is the dumb velcro that holds the flap down causes unnecessary fraying of the fibres of the adjuster strap. The adjuster strap is prone to damage from the adjuster tongue if the user doesn't pull straight up or directly down on the strap to begin with, so add the velcro in there and its just a disaster. I meant to remove the velcro off of my cover but have only had it in the house once to wash it and discovered the cover is coming apart anyway.