Baby safety in car
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Updated October 2007
This report covers car seats for newborns up to about 22 pounds in the rear-facing position. Infant car seats also double as carriers, allowing you to remove a sleeping baby from the car without waking him or her. We have a separate report on
Consumer Reports made headlines in January 2007 when it announced that all but two infant car seats — the Graco SnugRide and the Baby Trend Flex-Loc — had failed their latest crash tests, particularly a side-impact crash test in which one test dummy was even ejected outside the test vehicle. Editors said they had added a new side-impact crash test as part of a campaign to challenge the federal government and car-seat manufacturers to subject infant car seats to more stringent testing.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) is the government body that’s responsible for testing car seats. When it learned of Consumer Reports’ January 2007 test results, NHTSA conducted the same front- and side-impact tests itself. However, in reviewing the data from Consumer Reports, and as a result of its own tests, the NHTSA found that Consumer Reports’ test methodology was flawed. The organization didn’t dispute the methodology of the front-impact tests, but speeds for Consumer Reports’ side-impact tests were incorrectly measured — so much so that Consumer Reports’ side-impact tests actually replicated an impact speed of 70 mph, far higher than the 38-mph speed claimed by Consumer Reports.
Consumer Reports quickly withdrew its ratings and retested the infant car seats according to federal guidelines, posting the revised ratings in August 2007. All the car seats passed the redesigned crash test, and the new report ranks them based mainly on ease of use and how well each seat fits in vehicles. In the meantime, the flawed Consumer Reports test results were the subject of hundreds of newspaper, magazine, website and television reports. NHTSA fielded hundreds of calls from frightened parents worried that their infant car seats were unsafe, and some critics wonder how much damage was done. The NHTSA has urged parents to continue to use their car seats, reassuring them that all infant car seats sold in the U.S. have been adequately crash tested and are safe to use. Indeed, this is what Consumer Reports found after retesting infant car seats.
Despite the controversy, Consumer Reports remains our top-rated reviewer of infant car seats, since it is the only U.S. non-government source that conducts crash testing. We also found some additional reviews for infant car seats. Parent ratings and other reviews are helpful for judging features, ease of use and other facets.
One seat that has proved itself in the past with owners, parents and experts is again judged an excellent infant car seat. The Graco SnugRide (*est. $65 to $150, depending on model) is the best car seat on the market this year, as it has been for several years running. Parents say the SnugRide is easy to use, comfortable and easy to install in most cars. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) says the Graco’s instructions and installation are trouble-free, and the SnugRide performed well even under the admittedly extreme conditions of the flawed January 2007 Consumer Reports crash test.
We also found good reviews for the Baby Trend Flex-Loc Adjustable Back (*est. $80) . The Flex-Loc gets high ratings from parents and in other reviews, and the NHTSA gives it good scores for overall ease of use. CarSeatData.org chooses the similar Baby Trend Latch-Loc and the Graco SnugRide as its top two infant car seats.
Other car seats don’t quite measure up. The Combi Centre DX (*est. $115) and Centre ST (*est. $100) share the same design. The DX model has some additional removable padding for infants. At Amazon.com and BabyCenter.com, some parents complain about the harness on the Combi Centre car seats, saying that it’s just too hard to fasten properly. Professional reviewers also give the Combi car seats mixed scores for ease of use.
