Consumer Reports withdraws negative report
Staff -- Kids Today, 1/18/2007 12:00:00 AM
Consumer Reports has withdrawn its recent report on car seats, published in its February issue, pending further tests of the performance of those seats in side-impact collisions.
In a statement posted on the magazine's Web site, it says a new report will be published with any necessary revisions as soon as possible after the new tests are complete. The magazine also says it withdrew the report immediately upon discovering a substantive issue that may have affected the original test results. The issue came to light based on new information received Tuesday night and Wednesday morning from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration concerning the speed at which its side-impact tests were conducted.
The original study was designed to discover how infant seats performed in tests at speeds that match those used in the government's New Car Assessment Program, which tests most new vehicles in crashes at speeds of 35 mph for frontal impact and 38 mph for side impact. Child safety seats, in contrast, are currently tested only in front-impact crashes at speeds of 30 mph.
The magazine said its tests were intended to simulate side crashes at the NCAP speed of 38 mph. The new information raises a question about whether the tests accurately simulated that speed, however, so Consumer Reports is now reviewing its tests and the resulting article.
Consumer Reports urges consumers to remember that use of any child seat is safer than no child seat, but to suspend judgment on the merits of individual products until the new testing has been completed and the report re-published.
The statement also said the magazine appreciates that manufacturers and particularly NHTSA are engaging directly with them on this article, and it applaud sNHTSA for giving serious consideration to the development of side-impact child seat tests.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration also had a statement on its Web site.
“Consumer Reports was right to withdraw its infant car seat test report and I appreciate that they have taken this corrective action," said NHTSA's Nicole Nason. "We are always eager to work with Consumer Reports and other organizations to improve child safety and ensure that consumers continue to have access to accurate and credible data. I was troubled by the report because it frightened parents and could have discouraged them from using car seats. It is absolutely essential for every parent to understand that the safest place in an automobile for an infant is in a car seat. Simply put, car seats are the best defense for a child in a crash.
“Our initial review of the Consumer Reports testing procedures showed a significant error in the manner in which it conducted and reported on its side-impact tests. The organization’s data show its side-impact tests were actually conducted under conditions that would represent being struck in excess of 70 mph, twice as fast as the group claimed. When NHTSA tested the same child seats in conditions representing the 38.5 mph conditions claimed by Consumer Reports, the seats stayed in their bases as they should, instead of failing dramatically.”
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Consumer Reports retracts report on car seats
Feb 1, 2007
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