Morganthe
New member
It answered a whole lot of questions I had about this side impact recall.
'Catastrophic' Failure leads to Child Seat Recall
New York Times-- free registration required
During a crash test, the Evenflo seat goes flying, ending up in two pieces after the test.
Excerpt:
WHEN the federal government announced last month that one million Evenflo Discovery child seats were being recalled because they could come apart in a side-impact crash, there was a strange twist: The government insisted on a recall even though there is no standard that specifies how well such seats must protect children in a side crash.
Clarence Ditlow, who has been the executive director of the Center for Auto Safety for 32 years, said a recall under these circumstances was rare, if not unprecedented. He said the problem was discovered only because the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration had been working on developing side-impact regulations and had conducted some child seat tests as part of that research.
The agency said the problem with the Evenflo was so serious that, even in the absence of standards, the agency felt compelled to request a recall.
During the tests, in which a ram struck the vehicle’s side at 38.5 miles an hour, the portion of the seat in which an infant would be strapped broke free of the base that anchored it to the car and was thrown around the interior.
Ron Medford, the agency’s senior associate administrator, described the failure as “catastrophic.”
“Even in a severe crash we shouldn’t be seeing that kind of structural separation, and we didn’t see it in other seats,” he said. The agency asked Evenflo for a recall. The company complied and also decided to stop making the seats.
Continued on the link above.
'Catastrophic' Failure leads to Child Seat Recall
New York Times-- free registration required
During a crash test, the Evenflo seat goes flying, ending up in two pieces after the test.
Excerpt:
WHEN the federal government announced last month that one million Evenflo Discovery child seats were being recalled because they could come apart in a side-impact crash, there was a strange twist: The government insisted on a recall even though there is no standard that specifies how well such seats must protect children in a side crash.
Clarence Ditlow, who has been the executive director of the Center for Auto Safety for 32 years, said a recall under these circumstances was rare, if not unprecedented. He said the problem was discovered only because the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration had been working on developing side-impact regulations and had conducted some child seat tests as part of that research.
The agency said the problem with the Evenflo was so serious that, even in the absence of standards, the agency felt compelled to request a recall.
During the tests, in which a ram struck the vehicle’s side at 38.5 miles an hour, the portion of the seat in which an infant would be strapped broke free of the base that anchored it to the car and was thrown around the interior.
Ron Medford, the agency’s senior associate administrator, described the failure as “catastrophic.”
“Even in a severe crash we shouldn’t be seeing that kind of structural separation, and we didn’t see it in other seats,” he said. The agency asked Evenflo for a recall. The company complied and also decided to stop making the seats.
Continued on the link above.
