Consumer Reports retracts report on car seats

After reporting in its February issue results of crash tests on infant car seats that claimed 10 of the 12 seats tested failed drastically, Consumer Reports is retracting its story pending further study.

The magazine, which conducted its tests in October, tested the seats at 35 mph frontal and 38 mph side impact while the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration requires seats to withstand a 30-mph frontal crash. When the report was released manufacturers, The Juvenile Product Manufacturers Association, the NHTSA, Safe Kids Worldwide and other organizations issued statements inquiring about the testing methods and reiterating that car seats are still safe and effective if used correctly.

JPMA questioned the validity of the findings and Robert Waller, JPMA president said, "It is irresponsible to suggest that infant child restraints may not perform well in crashes."

JPMA noted that the NHTSA has said that an increase in severity of speed would require redesign of many child restraints and increase their cost "without a proportionate safety benefit," and the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety said that "child restraints designed to pass the current 30 mph standard are providing very good protection to children in frontal crashes, and there is no evidence suggesting that designing child restraints to withstand higher crash forces could have prevented or mitigated any of the serious or fatal injuries in cases studied by the Institute."

Consumer Reports withdrew its report in a statement on its Web site after receiving information from the NHTSA concerning the speed at which its side-impact tests were conducted.

"Consumer Reports was right to withdraw its infant car seat test report and I appreciate that they have taken this corrective action," said Nicole Nason of NHTSA. "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."