Consumer Reports crash tests circa 1972

mom of six · Oct 21, 2013

I know that consumer reports is not necessarily well loved around here but I was surfing the internet for some vintage/antique car seat pictures and I happened across this article. Some of the pictures are pretty interesting.

http://www.consumerreports.org/cro/resources/streaming/PDFs/CR_Aug1972_Child_Car_Restraints.pdf

Incidentlly, that GM Love seat in the picture is the same one my parents had. The cover is a blue nylon with little white flowers.

I think that seat was the beginning of my obsession.:dance:

ketchupqueen · Oct 21, 2013

It's telling that the only one that provided overall "good" protection was the rear-facing seat! You can see why Sweden decided to just keep kids rear-facing back then.

katymyers · Oct 21, 2013

It's incredible to me that in 1972 the only seat that really passed their tests was a rear facing seat and no one thought to try making one for larger children. Like no one connected the dots there? It's ridiculous that we are really just starting to figure out the whole ERF thing.
Also, just out of curiosity, the GM Infant Love seat they tested is the same one that eventually became the Century Infant Love seat, right? So the infant seat I had was designed in the 70's? That's crazy to even think about lol.

Nedra · Oct 23, 2013

Wow. Those photos are chilling. I usually get anxious looking at modern crash test videos, but at least in those the seat doesn't appear to crush the child.

Brigala · Oct 23, 2013

Would there be enough interest in reading this study that it would be worth transcribing? The text is pretty fuzzy... I'd be willing to work on transcribing it if it would be read by more than just me.

Pixelated · Oct 23, 2013

Brigala said:
Would there be enough interest in reading this study that it would be worth transcribing? The text is pretty fuzzy... I'd be willing to work on transcribing it if it would be read by more than just me.

I can actually read it pretty easily - maybe try a different computer to see if that solves the issue? That's a lot of squinting to transcribe all of that!

katymyers · Oct 23, 2013

I was able to read it on my phone just fine, just a lot of scrolling

nannykates · Oct 23, 2013

I was also able to read most of it on my phone.

mom of six · Oct 23, 2013

I think a nice copy would be nice but what I want most of all is to see those pictures!!!

Classicseats sent me a couple of other studies/articles but they are from photocopies done in the 80's so the pictures are terrible.

Brigala · Oct 23, 2013

I was having a really hard time reading it, and then I decided to transcribe it anyway.

For some reason, it was easier to read while transcribing it. Something about sending it to a different part of my brain or something, I don't know. I've found that to be the case with a lot of things, actually.

So, I have it mostly transcribed in an RTF in case anybody wants it. I was part way through the last page when I had to turn my attention back to real life. It would only take me a few minutes to finish it up, though. I type quickly.

Consumer Reports crash tests circa 1972

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