Rear facing car seats with 25 kg(55 lbs) weight limit

Here is a list of European car seats that can be used rear facing up till 25 kg(55 lbs):

• Britax Secura
• Britax Hi-Way
• Britax Freeway
• Britax Two Way Elite
• Britax Multitech
  
• Brio Zento
  
• MaxiCosi Mobi
  
• Akta Graco Cosmic Comfort S

Joel's story

This is a story that needs to be told(and read by everyone that has children), Joel's family have shared their story hoping that other parents can learn from it and maybe their story can help prevent similar accidents from happening. Let's hope Joel's story can contribute to make parents aver on the importance of extended rear facing and let people know that there has been a huge gap in the recommendations(what is safest for our children) and the law. Let's hope for a change in the laws concerning children's safety in cars. Here is Joel's story :



For those of you who wants to know how Joel is doing now pleas visit his families website Joel's Journey.

Two new web shop's for the English speaking market

It can be a bit tricky to get a rear facing car seat for those who lives outside Scandinavia, here is a couple of on line stores making it easier to get a hold of a rear facing car seat for your toddler:

Opening 14th April 2009

Rear Facing - The way forward has got a buyers guide on their webpage(for readers in the UK).

Crash test

Please feel free to share

Printable information

New European research - children should sit rear facing in the car up till four years of age

The picture to the left shows a five year old boy rear facing in a Britax Multitech(the seat is RF up till 55 lbs) in the back of a VW Passat.

A small cut from the report:

Child safety in cars: A wide gulf has developed between technology and legislation

Children up to four years of age would be better protected in cars if they traveled rearward-facing in a suitable child restraint, rather than forward-facing as is the usual practice in most of Europe. Suitable seats are widely used in the Nordic countries, but are not readily available in the rest of Europe. The law and the supply of seats, together with the information for parents, are in urgent need of revision. These are the conclusions of a study commissioned by ANEC looking at the lessons to be learned from accidents in the UK, US and
Sweden

A small quote from section: 5 - Findings based on the UK fatal Accidents Data

5.1 Forward Facing child seats

....In six of the eight accidents the research team judged that the child would have survived had they been seated in a suitable rearward facing car seat. The agees of these children ranged from five and three-quarter months to just under four years old. In the remaining two cases the protection offered by a rearward facing seat would have been compromised by additional loading from luggage in the boot area and gross roof intrusion into the seating position. The children in these accidents were aged seven months and one and a half years old.

The organization wants to make rear-facing car seats available in all of Europe and says that children should stay rear-facing up till four years.

The picture to the left shows a four year old girl(110 cm & 18 kg) rear facing in a Britax Two Way Elite and a three year old boy(93 cm & 13 kg) rear facing in a Akta Graco Duologic seat. They sit in the back of a VW Golf st.

About ANEC:

ANEC, the European Association for the Co-ordination of Consumer Representation in Standardization (known informally as 'the European consumer voice in standardization'), is an organization promoting and defending consumer interests in the processes of standardization and certification and in legislation related to standardization and certification.

ANEC provides technical expertise and advice drawn from a network of more than 200 consumer representatives across Europe. The organization's experts contribute directly to the work of more than 80 technical committees and working groups of the European Standards Organizations, CEN, CENELEC and ETSI.

Source: Wikipedia



For those of you who wants to learn more, look at real crash test data and more:


The main findings from the ANEC study
The enitre study

What is the isofix(LATCH) system? And which cars has got isofix?

The picture above shows a little boy that weight approx. 12 kg(ca. 26 lbs) and height 86 cm. He sits rear-facing in a Britax Fix-Way(0-18 kg). The car is a Renalult Grand Scénic 2006.

First a quote from car-safety.org:

The LATCH system was originally called ISOFIX, a term still used in Europe. In Canada, it is the Lower Universal Anchorage System (LUAS) or CANFIX. It has also been called the Universal Child Safety Seat System or UCSSS. Some carseat companies have trade names for this system, for example, Britax uses the term "ISOFIT™". All of these names refer to the same universal anchorages that appear on a few model year 2000 vehicles and even more model year 2001 and 2002 vehicles. These are required by law in the USA for almost all model year 2003 and later vehicles. With the exception of the Volkswagen Passat and many Audi models since 1999, lower LATCH anchors cannot be retrofitted onto earlier model vehicles.

Isofix stands for International Standards Organisation FIX.
Isofix is a system specially made for fastening children's car seats(intallation without the car seatbelt). The car seat has two pairs of "claws" that can be attached on to to anchor points behind the seat of the car(usually found in the back seat). It is supposed to be an easier way to install the car seat and to reduce the risk of installing the car seat wrong.

The anchor points are most often found in the cars back seat on the right and the left side.

The illustration below is of the European isofix system:
If the car seat is correctly installed using the cars seat belt their is no difference in the safety between a car seat installed with isofix and a car seat fastend with seat belts. But as mentioned earlier the risk of installing the car seat wrong is reduced when the seat is fastened with isofix. If one has a booster with isofix it is also safer when driving the car without the kids, beacause many parents drive around with boosters lose in their car when the kids don't sit in them. When the seat is installed using isofix one don't have to remember to fastend the seat every time one goes for a ride without the kids. Remember that a lose car seat can cause great damage in a accident, it will come flying trough the air like a projectile.



From 2007 isofix should be standard on new cars in Europe. Some car manufactures have had the isofix system in their cars years already, the first car with isofix came in 1997. Here is a list over cars with isofix(produced before 2007).