‘Danger’ child seats exposed

Some child car seats are so difficult to fit they could be dangerous, warns a new report. Testers at Which? were so confused by one model that they have advised parents not to buy it.

The consumer organisation is now calling on every local council to offer practical installation advice, and demanding a nationally recognised training standard for shops that sell car seats.

Which? car editor Richard Headland reckons only three UK authorities currently have such a facility: Wigan in Lancashire, Bromley in Kent and Rayleigh in Essex. He said: “You can buy the safest seat on the
market, but it must be fitted correctly to protect a child. We’ve found some seats difficult to install and others offered poor crash protection, which simply isn’t acceptable.”

The worst-performing seat according to Which? was the Renolux Next Confort. The study found that there is an unacceptably high risk of parents fitting it badly, earning it the dubious ‘Don’t Buy’ rating.

Another model by the same firm, the 360, was easier to use, but was said to offer poor protection in the event of a crash. The shell was thrown forward and twisted violently, so the child would have collided with the seat in front.

The chairs that earned top marks for good protection and ease of fitting were the Britax Baby-Safe Sleeper, the Maxi Cosi Cabriofix, the Mamas & Papas Primo Viaggio, the KiddyInfinity Pro and the Britax KidFix.