Car seats in Australia

Nedra · Sep 21, 2015

Just came across this on YouTube and found it very interesting! I am in the U.S. and had never seen Australian seats before. I was super confused as to how he awarded "points" -- in some cases, he mentioned corrections and in others there wasn't anything that he said was wrong (or maybe I missed it?) and yet the parents still didn't get a 10/10.

Just found it interesting!

This is the video on FF seats, but there are ones for RF and boosters as well.

http://youtu.be/ci23a27FS1A
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joolsplus3 · Sep 21, 2015

They sure love those top tethers, don't they? My godparents had those in their 1975 volvo for their kids in the early 80s, it was my first experience with them (my godmother made me do it for her, she couldn't figure it out, actually, it was like a keyhole rather than a hook, and it was hard to reach). They didn't have chest clips back then, either, and it looks like they've gotten rid of the split crotch strap (which made them have a 6 point harness, they called it, it was like an upside down V with the buckle at the apex). I swear that girl's straps were at/below her shoulders, but that's also ok with their seats, last I read, like the top of the Radian here and some EU seats I've read about.
Interesting find! I haven't looked at them in awhile, mostly because they are so booooorrrrinnnggg, color-wise...that baby's Britax looked almost like a rainbow compared to what they used to be (blend in with the car safety products, period, nothing pretty like the EU seats!)
They aren't quite on board with ERF, though, evidently they think that top tether is as safe as you can possibly be...

Nedra · Sep 21, 2015

joolsplus3 said:
They aren't quite on board with ERF, though, evidently they think that top tether is as safe as you can possibly be...

That was surprising to me too -- I was waiting for him to say something about how the baby wasn't in he proper restraint and would be safer if they switched back to RF...but then it occurred to me that I think I have read that Australian seats don't have very high RF limits?

joolsplus3 · Sep 21, 2015

Yeah, they have these awesome safe 'Baby Capsules' with mega energy management devices, but they really only go to like 6-9 months. It was common to even just rent them back then from the hospital, and line it with a fitted sheepskin. (random google, no more sheepskin, but check these out, they REALLY love those top tethers, lol, and the Chicco with the anti rebound bar? Cool! http://www.mybabywarehouse.com.au/baby-car-safety/capsules-baby-carriers.html)

Nedra · Sep 21, 2015

On that link you posted, the "Safe and Sound" capsule is one of the ones featured in the RF video. When I saw that base, I had no idea how she was going to get a baby in it at first! It's so different from anything we have here. I would love to be a fly on the wall of the engineering dept that came up with that concept!

jwilliams · Sep 21, 2015

I've always wondered about their injury and death numbers and how they relate to their super short RF period. I've never actually researched it, I'm just curious.

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joolsplus3 · Sep 21, 2015

About the same as ours, it looks like... http://www.aihw.gov.au/deaths/leading-causes-of-death/, though ours breaks it down more by age and the crash deaths have fallen from being #1 for every year, to only number 1 starting at age 3 or 4, and as much as I want to believe it's from ERF, I think it's just from better restraint and back seats. A side by side by side of AU/US/SWeden would be SO COOL (early FF, average FF, long RF).

Car seats in Australia

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