Lys
Senior Community Member
Evenflo Company Statement: Consumer Reports Car Seat Review Not Consistent
With Federal Standards
Evenflo Car Seats Are Safe and Effective - Tested and Proven to Meet or
Exceed Government Standards
VANDALIA, Ohio, Jan. 3 /PRNewswire/ -- Evenflo Company, Inc. is deeply
concerned that Consumer Reports magazine has decided to publish an article
that may potentially alarm consumers about the safety of their infant child
restraints. The magazine decided to publish this article without
consultation with child seat manufacturers, even though the tests appear to
have been conducted in October and November of last year. Evenflo is
committed to manufacturing safe and highly effective car seats that meet or
exceed government standards. In addition, Evenflo subjects its car seats to
extensive testing both in-house and through independent laboratories to
ensure every car seat is compliant before initial sale of its products and
during ongoing production.
Despite our request, Consumer Reports has declined to provide us with
an advance copy of the article, and further declined to disclose in advance
of publication the pertinent information relating to its underlying test
conditions and protocols. This is especially unreasonable, given that the
magazine's test conditions and protocols appear to conflict with the
collective experience of car seat manufacturers, NHTSA and the scientific
community. Rigorous tests conducted by NHTSA and Evenflo have consistently
shown that both the Evenflo Discovery(R) and Evenflo Embrace(TM) exceed
government standards.
Without access to the full review of the data collected by Consumer
Reports, we are unable to provide a detailed assessment of the magazine's
findings; however, we can offer the following facts and observations about
the specific Evenflo products that the Consumer Reports article appears to
discuss:
Discovery infant child restraint
Since introducing the model 391 Discovery in April 2005, Evenflo has
conducted at least 200 dynamic tests at three different laboratories. Most
of these tests were conducted at test velocities that significantly
exceeded the forces under the NHTSA standard. None of the tests
demonstrated any back angle compliance issue. Additionally, NHTSA has twice
tested the model 391 Discovery and it passed all dynamic testing
requirements on each occasion. Thus, between Evenflo and NHTSA, there are
more than 200 passing tests regarding the Discovery at velocities that meet
or exceed the government standards. Evenflo unequivocally stands behind the
integrity of its test results and the Discovery(R) child restraint seat and
disputes the validity of the yet to be disclosed Consumer Reports tests.
Proper evaluation of those tests requires, at a minimum, information about
the test setup, the crash pulse, the dummy and any alterations from the
specifications in 49 CFR 572, as well as any deviations from the test
protocol set forth in FMVSS 213 and NHTSA document TP-213 Laboratory Test
Procedure for FMVSS 213. We have requested this information from Consumer
Reports as well as an opportunity to inspect the Discovery(R) units that
were actually tested.
Embrace infant child restraint
Evenflo likewise unequivocally stands behind its Embrace infant seat.
Evenflo disputes the validity of the yet to be disclosed Consumer Reports
test(s) and will review the testing information once provided by Consumer
Reports. Based on the limited information available to Evenflo at this
time, however, it appears that the testing protocol and equipment used by
Consumer Reports in connection with the Embrace infant seat does not
conform to test methods proposed or adopted by experts from academia,
industry, test agencies or government entities throughout the world. Put
simply, there are serious issues with both the test protocol and equipment
that cast serious doubt on the validity of the test results. Moreover,
Evenflo is unaware of any material difference in performance when the
Embrace infant seat is secured by the LATCH method or through use of the
vehicle seat belt.
All Evenflo car seats sold today meet thorough standards established by
NHTSA and are extensively tested by car seat manufacturers and the
government. Consumer Reports suggestion that the present standards should
be abandoned in favor of its protocol is inconsistent with real world
experience and well grounded input from the scientific community received
in connection with prior consideration by NHTSA to increase the child seat
crash test speed.
As noted by independent commentators, there is no evidence to suggest
that infant child restraints would generally be more effective to protect
children in real world crashes if designed to meet higher crash speeds. In
fact, such changes may be counterproductive to the overall safety of car
seats in real world accidents. Like other car seat manufacturers and NHTSA,
Evenflo is committed to manufacturing safe and highly effective child
restraint seats.
We urge consumers to demand proper disclosure and review of Consumer
Reports test results and to carefully weigh all relevant information before
drawing any conclusions based upon Consumer Reports forthcoming article.
About Evenflo
Committed to innovation, safety and comfort for more than 85 years,
Evenflo has been the trusted name in everything babies need to grow, go,
play and thrive. From bottles and high chairs to carriers and car seats,
Evenflo creates inspired products for today's active families worldwide.
Evenflo regularly taps into its Safe Baby and Toddler Council, a group
comprised of experts from key areas in the field of child care, to provide
product insights and research. More information can be found at
http://www.evenflo.com <http://www.evenflo.com/> .
SOURCE Evenflo
With Federal Standards
Evenflo Car Seats Are Safe and Effective - Tested and Proven to Meet or
Exceed Government Standards
VANDALIA, Ohio, Jan. 3 /PRNewswire/ -- Evenflo Company, Inc. is deeply
concerned that Consumer Reports magazine has decided to publish an article
that may potentially alarm consumers about the safety of their infant child
restraints. The magazine decided to publish this article without
consultation with child seat manufacturers, even though the tests appear to
have been conducted in October and November of last year. Evenflo is
committed to manufacturing safe and highly effective car seats that meet or
exceed government standards. In addition, Evenflo subjects its car seats to
extensive testing both in-house and through independent laboratories to
ensure every car seat is compliant before initial sale of its products and
during ongoing production.
Despite our request, Consumer Reports has declined to provide us with
an advance copy of the article, and further declined to disclose in advance
of publication the pertinent information relating to its underlying test
conditions and protocols. This is especially unreasonable, given that the
magazine's test conditions and protocols appear to conflict with the
collective experience of car seat manufacturers, NHTSA and the scientific
community. Rigorous tests conducted by NHTSA and Evenflo have consistently
shown that both the Evenflo Discovery(R) and Evenflo Embrace(TM) exceed
government standards.
Without access to the full review of the data collected by Consumer
Reports, we are unable to provide a detailed assessment of the magazine's
findings; however, we can offer the following facts and observations about
the specific Evenflo products that the Consumer Reports article appears to
discuss:
Discovery infant child restraint
Since introducing the model 391 Discovery in April 2005, Evenflo has
conducted at least 200 dynamic tests at three different laboratories. Most
of these tests were conducted at test velocities that significantly
exceeded the forces under the NHTSA standard. None of the tests
demonstrated any back angle compliance issue. Additionally, NHTSA has twice
tested the model 391 Discovery and it passed all dynamic testing
requirements on each occasion. Thus, between Evenflo and NHTSA, there are
more than 200 passing tests regarding the Discovery at velocities that meet
or exceed the government standards. Evenflo unequivocally stands behind the
integrity of its test results and the Discovery(R) child restraint seat and
disputes the validity of the yet to be disclosed Consumer Reports tests.
Proper evaluation of those tests requires, at a minimum, information about
the test setup, the crash pulse, the dummy and any alterations from the
specifications in 49 CFR 572, as well as any deviations from the test
protocol set forth in FMVSS 213 and NHTSA document TP-213 Laboratory Test
Procedure for FMVSS 213. We have requested this information from Consumer
Reports as well as an opportunity to inspect the Discovery(R) units that
were actually tested.
Embrace infant child restraint
Evenflo likewise unequivocally stands behind its Embrace infant seat.
Evenflo disputes the validity of the yet to be disclosed Consumer Reports
test(s) and will review the testing information once provided by Consumer
Reports. Based on the limited information available to Evenflo at this
time, however, it appears that the testing protocol and equipment used by
Consumer Reports in connection with the Embrace infant seat does not
conform to test methods proposed or adopted by experts from academia,
industry, test agencies or government entities throughout the world. Put
simply, there are serious issues with both the test protocol and equipment
that cast serious doubt on the validity of the test results. Moreover,
Evenflo is unaware of any material difference in performance when the
Embrace infant seat is secured by the LATCH method or through use of the
vehicle seat belt.
All Evenflo car seats sold today meet thorough standards established by
NHTSA and are extensively tested by car seat manufacturers and the
government. Consumer Reports suggestion that the present standards should
be abandoned in favor of its protocol is inconsistent with real world
experience and well grounded input from the scientific community received
in connection with prior consideration by NHTSA to increase the child seat
crash test speed.
As noted by independent commentators, there is no evidence to suggest
that infant child restraints would generally be more effective to protect
children in real world crashes if designed to meet higher crash speeds. In
fact, such changes may be counterproductive to the overall safety of car
seats in real world accidents. Like other car seat manufacturers and NHTSA,
Evenflo is committed to manufacturing safe and highly effective child
restraint seats.
We urge consumers to demand proper disclosure and review of Consumer
Reports test results and to carefully weigh all relevant information before
drawing any conclusions based upon Consumer Reports forthcoming article.
About Evenflo
Committed to innovation, safety and comfort for more than 85 years,
Evenflo has been the trusted name in everything babies need to grow, go,
play and thrive. From bottles and high chairs to carriers and car seats,
Evenflo creates inspired products for today's active families worldwide.
Evenflo regularly taps into its Safe Baby and Toddler Council, a group
comprised of experts from key areas in the field of child care, to provide
product insights and research. More information can be found at
http://www.evenflo.com <http://www.evenflo.com/> .
SOURCE Evenflo