baby gear lab testing

ADS

katymyers

Active member
I don't know anything about them, their website does seem fairly reputable and I agree with the ease of use ratings for the most part so that certainly helps. I'm interested to see what others have to say. They rated my favorite seats quite well so I'm definitely curious.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 

LISmama810

Admin - CPS Technician
My first impression is that the site is misleading. I don't think they conducted their own crash tests. If you read carefully, they talk about looking at NHTSA's crash test data, and they mention their own tests, but they don't refer to their own tests as "crash tests," just "tests," which I think is referring to ease of use, etc. I think the contracting they did with the test lab might have been for some kind of consulting.

Running crash tests is extremely expensive, and I find it hard to believe this website has the funds to do that.

This press release doesn't say anything about them conducting their own crash tests, and it seems like that would be a big selling point: http://www.jpma.org/news/260724/JPM...eats-of-2016-Announced-by-BabyGearLab.com.htm

If that's the case, though, it doesn't explain the video that's labeled as "their" test.
 

murphydog77

Admin - CPST Instructor
Staff member
Well, they explain that they contracted with the same site that NHTSA contracts with to do testing and they also used NHTSA data for analysis. But I'm skeptical as well because how does a pediatrician come up with the money to test 15 infant seats and 11 convertibles at min. $10K per seat? Peds and family doctors are some of the lowest paid doctors out there.

The reviews do seem thorough otherwise.
 

LISmama810

Admin - CPS Technician
http://www.babygearlab.com/Best-Convertible-Car-Seat#bicreview Towards the bottom they explain their testing in depth. It seems legit and I always find it fascinating to actually see some numbers and a bar graph!

It explains testing in general, not necessarily their testing.

I'm still skeptical that they actually crash-tested all those seats, although I can't explain this:

"We used a forward-facing Hybrid III 3 YO Part 572 P dummy (3 year old test dummy) in our commissioned crash tests "
 

Hazelandlucy

Active member
It explains testing in general, not necessarily their testing.

I'm still skeptical that they actually crash-tested all those seats, although I can't explain this:

"We used a forward-facing Hybrid III 3 YO Part 572 P dummy (3 year old test dummy) in our commissioned crash tests "

I think they did, they have a picture of what looks like their dummy in the Foonf. And they say they contracted to use the same facility and actually test, not just analyze crash data.

Some more about the dummy... Our crash tests were conducted with a Hybrid III 3 YO Part 572 P dummy (3 year old test dummy) in a forward-facing position because NHTSA crash injury studies have shown that the risks of injury are far greater when children are forward facing, and the heavier 3 yr old test dummy provides a more strenuous test of the seats. For those reasons, we consider testing with a heavier test dummy in a forward facing position to be more informative about differences that translate to injury prevention. The more a seat managed to exceed the Federal safety standards, the higher it scored in our analysis of the results. It is important to remember that all of the products for sale in the US comply with Federal safety guidelines. However, each seat we tested responded differently in the sled testing, and we believe the results can help differentiate the seats from one another.


So I think they did it, I just wonder who analyzed the crash data, etc. Still interesting!
 

ketchupqueen

CPST and ketchup snob
Staff member
I honestly find in-vehicle tests (though rare) more enlightening. Unless you're driving a vehicle from the late 70s-mid 80s your seats don't look much like the test bench...
 

SafeDad

CPSDarren - Admin
Staff member
There are only a few labs that do independent testing in the USA. They can all perform tests similar or identical to the federal standard testing. Anyone can contract them to run tests, from Consumer Reports, to Freakonomics, to manufacturers of 3rd party carseat accessories. How the tests are done, what checks and balances are present to make sure they are done consistently and correctly is rarely given in the details.

Like the FMVSS pass/fail testing, it's not simply a matter of testing that is the issue. You can find NHTSA certification numbers for carseats and see which did better or worse than others. These tests were not designed to be comparative safety tests and there are no correlations to any real world risk of injury. Some of the same concerns are true of Consumer Reports crash testing, though theirs has certainly been subject to a lot more scrutiny.

As Heather said, it is prohibitively expensive to do even a single test of every carseat in a class, let alone to do the multiple tests on each carseat to demonstrate repeatability and then correlate the statistically significant results to real world injury/fatality data. This requires hundreds of thousands of dollars of testing plus a huge amount of time and effort to have the necessary analysis before peer review for a published study to make sure the analysis can stand up to independent expert scrutiny. I imagine if they have gone through the costly effort of doing a first round of testing, perhaps additional testing, analysis and publication in a respected medical or injury prevention journal is forthcoming. That said, I am not aware that Consumer Reports has done this, presumably to keep data proprietary, so sometimes you never know how reliable such test results might be.

Until then, I'm not sure I would put any more trust in the results than NHTSA pass/fail certification numbers, which I believe are not very useful at all for comparing different carseats. They are interesting and certainly worth discussion, but not something I would use as a major factor in deciding what seat to buy for my own children. Plus, like Consumer Reports, it completely neglects side impact testing. Unlike Consumer Reports, it also appears to neglect rear-facing testing, or testing with additional dummy sizes for older kids, as younger children are more likely to remain rear-facing longer.

I note that the NHTSA was mandated to do supplemental testing to allow comparisons of carseats over a decade ago. This was to be similar to the automobile NCAP 5-star system, but for carseats. It still hasn't been done and likely never will be. The costs to do this in a repeatable and reliable manner likely run into the tens of millions of dollars for manpower and testing. Kudos to Consumer Reports and other agencies who attempt to do this on their own, but simply paying for a single test for a dozen carseats is not nearly sufficient to make a safety comparison.
 

Car-Seat.Org Facebook Group

Forum statistics

Threads
219,655
Messages
2,196,895
Members
13,530
Latest member
onehitko860

You must read your carseat and vehicle owner’s manual and understand any relevant state laws. These are the rules you must follow to restrain your children safely. All opinions at Car-Seat.Org are those of the individual author for informational purposes only, and do not necessarily reflect any policy or position of Carseat Media LLC. Car-Seat.Org makes no representations as to accuracy, completeness, currentness, suitability, or validity of any information on this site and will not be liable for any errors, omissions, or delays in this information or any losses, injuries, or damages arising from its display or use. All information is provided on an as-is basis. If you are unsure about information provided to you, please visit a local certified technician. Before posting or using our website you must read and agree to our TERMS.

Graco is a Proud Sponsor of Car-Seat.Org! Britax is a Proud Sponsor of Car-Seat.Org! Nuna Baby is a Proud Sponsor of Car-Seat.Org!

Please  Support Car-Seat.Org  with your purchases of infant, convertible, combination and boosters seats from our premier sponsors above.
Shop travel systems, strollers and baby gear from Britax, Chicco, Clek, Combi, Evenflo, First Years, Graco, Maxi-Cosi, Nuna, Safety 1st, Diono & more! ©2001-2022 Carseat Media LLC

Top