Firstly, Which? magazine has no bias, nor do we accept advertising of any kind. We aim to provide clear, actionable advice to consumers. In the area of child car seats, parents want to know which seats are safest and how to use them correctly.

Our child-seat test is the product of many years of joint research and testing among Which? and our European partners. Our carefully constructed and repeatable test methods have put us at the forefront of consumer testing. Indeed, the proposed future standard for child-seat testing, the New Programme for Assessment of Child restraint Systems (NPACS) is modelled closely on our own tests. NPACS is a consortium of UK and European government representatives, motoring clubs, testing laboratories and other consumer organisations, dedicated to raising standards in child seat safety.

We have never stated that the ‘Don't Buy' child car seats we listed in our June 2007 article are ‘unsafe'. Indeed, we stressed that ‘our tests are stricter than the legal minimum standard...' but we feel strongly that this standard, ECE R44, cannot give consumers full confidence in the products on the market. As all manufacturers are aware, ECE R44 does not include a side-impact test. We consider this a major omission, when a quarter of all reported road accidents involve a side impact of some sort.

Some manufacturers are well aware that ECE R44 is insufficient to guarantee satisfactory protection in a crash. Their products tend to be those which demonstrate superior crash protection for children - and likely to become Which? Best Buys.

However, our testing is not just about crash protection - it also recognises the importance of correct usage. For this reason, we ask non-expert users to install and remove the seats from vehicles to assess ease of fitting. We also review the instructions provided and rate them for clarity and quality of advice.

To conclude, the Which? ‘Don't Buy' label is intended to inform consumers that there are better products available, and also to drive up standards within the market place. It's clear that the current legal minimum standards aren't sufficient, which is why our assessments go beyond them - in exactly the same way Euro NCAP's crash tests go beyond the legislative standards for new cars. In markets where legislation moves slowly, our consumer testing has a demonstrable track record for improving standards for all buyers.

Sincerely

Neil Fowler,

Editor, Which? Magazine 

Printer friendly version

Email this article to a friend

Bookmark this

---