Healthy Habits: Car Seat Side Impact Safety

Right now, it’s practically impossible for parents to know if car seats have been properly crash tested or to trust they will truly protect children in the event of an unfortunate collision. There was a recent article that discussed “The Truth about Child Car Seat Safety Claims.” Many car seat brands don’t test for side-impact collisions, since the manufacturers are not required to do so. Side-impact testing simulates a crash in which the vehicle carrying the car seat is struck on the side by another vehicle. An example of a “real life” side impact collision is when a car crossing an intersection is struck on the side by another car that ran a stop sign.  Parents trust car seats to protect children in the event of an accident - approximately 25% of accidents involve a side impact, so be sure your car seat is as safe as you think it is.

 

This information brought to you by Evenflo, which has been performing full side-impact testing since 2008. The company tests its carseats at speeds that replicate the Side Impact Testing for New Car Assessment Program (SNCAP) and those of NHTSA's newly proposed side impact test protocol.