It is amazing to think how some practices in our daily lives have changed in a relatively short period of time. Not that long ago, we would go to the bank and stand in line if we wanted some physical money. If we wanted to find a book we would go to the library and look in what was called a "card catalog." It was a time when we knew how to write with a pen and there was no such thing as a video game.
In few places are these stark changes more magnified than in the auto industry. Imagine the time, before airbags, traction control, ABS, or even seatbelts! It really was not that long ago when to lock the car door, we would insert the key and twist. Friends my age all remember riding around in their parents' cars often upfront or even on the armrest, usually un-tethered, never with a car seat. Heck, I remember riding around in my parent's Pinto and have a friend who can recall one of his siblings falling out of their family's moving truckster.
Of the changes, the single greatest advancements fortunately have come in the form of safety.
Today, putting a child in a moving vehicle without a car seat is so taboo, that I take pause in even mentioning the possibility here. I don't care who you are, where you are, how much money you have, or what kind of car you drive, it simply isn't done. The importance of child car seat is one of the few common sense issues that has been effectively ingrained into people's psyche. Thank goodness.
So when Consumer Reports states that they will need to retest the seats they rank because of flawed testing procedures, it is worth mention here. Yes, use of even their worst performing products is still an infinitely better alternative to the now "unthinkable," but it seems that not all seats are created equal.
From the Consumer Reports site:
Consumer Reports withdraws infant car seat report
Move is made pending additional testing now underway
NEW YORK (Jan. 18) -- Consumer Reports is withdrawing its recent report on infant car seats pending further tests of the performance of those seats in side-impact collisions.
A new report will be published with any necessary revisions as soon as possible after the new tests are complete.
We 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 (NHTSA) concerning the speed at which our side-impact tests were conducted.
The original study, published in the February issue of Consumer Reports, was aimed at discovering how infant seats performed in tests at speeds that match those used in the government’s New Car Assessment Program (NCAP). This program 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.
Our 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 we are now reviewing our tests and the resulting article.
To those who may have seen the report earlier in print, on the Web, or in broadcasts, we urge you 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.
We appreciate that manufacturers and particularly NHTSA are engaging directly with us on this article, and we applaud NHTSA for giving serious consideration to development of side-impact child seat tests. Consumer Reports has long advocated adoption of such tests, since government data shows that side crashes account for a significant number of child fatalities.
We look forward to re-issuing guidance on child-seat safety as soon as possible.
Have a good (and safe) weekend.
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