Re: Chicaco Tribune Article (3/1/09) Titled "Car seat tests reveal 'flaws'"
I agree.
I'm afraid the average reader will not grasp why this is though. Most consumers I encounter feel that if they follow consumer reports buying recommendations that they are subscribing to "safety ratings."
News writers never convey (although the Tribune writer one hints at it) that "safety ratings" are of little value when they exist because variables relating to what car one is installing the restraint in and if correct installation was acheived are so numerous.
Car safety ratings simply have less variables to contend with to establish useful baselines for the consumer.
(Bolded by me for emphasis.)
Well, of course we now know that is not true at all based up this article. While testing for the variable of driver safety seems pretty straight forward, it's obvious that they didn't even bother to worry about rear seat safety, or even integrity in a crash! There are obviously lots of variables when crash testing anything, but consumers deserve at least an inkling as to how the most important purchase of their life performs, and how it compares to other seats on the market.
I stated in a previous thread somewhat related to this subject that as CPST's we stress that car seat laws are BARE MINIMUMS.
Wineuax said:
A crash test ratings system will give consumers a voice in car seat safety that quite frankly they have never had in this country, and Canada. Seriously, we tell parents ALL.THE.TIME that the law of 1 year AND 20 lbs is just the "bare minimum", and that it's so much safer to RF longer. So why on earth should we be happy with purchasing car seats that just pass the bare minimum? Give us the ability to make an INFORMED choice, and stop leaving us in the dark where we are now!
This article restates much of what I, and many others on this board, have been arguing for well over a year now. We need stricter and more transparent standards for car seat safety, and we need a simple 1-5* crash rating system similar to what we see in vehicles. The vehicle manufacturers also need to be telling us what seats work and don't work in their specific vehicles. This whole "roll the dice and hope that the seat you researched and chose to put your child in will actually FIT in your vehicle" is ridiculous. Enough already! NHTSA is supposed to be protecting the people of this country and not the manufacturers of the products it tests. They need to get back to basics and seriously redo the entire testing process, both for vehicles AND for car seats.
