Britax Two-Way saves a life!
Collisions are terrible and scary but does occur more often than we like. The whole point with using a Swedish rear facing car seat is to keep our children safe in case of an accident. Hearing of unharmed kids in severe collisions is always a relief. Phoebe uses a Britax Two-Way for her son and was hit at high speed. She was kind to include details of her crash and photos of the car which was totally destroyed. Only person not injured in the crash was her son in his Britax Two-Way:
Hi Håkan
Were kids safe in cars 40 years ago?
While talking to other parents about car seat safety one statement often come up: “When I was a child me and my sister were sleeping in the back seat without car seat or seat belt and that worked fine”. Is this true? Do we really need car seats? Lets take a closer look at just how safe kids were in 1970.
As I’ve mentioned before, Swedes are boring effective which mean we’re good at keeping track of accidents and statistics. Amazingly, we started using rear facing car seats in 1965. In 1970 it was still a new thing and few were using car seats or even seat belts. We’ve come along way since then and today most parents keep children rear facing to age 4 due to the huge safety benefits. Are we saving lives by using rear facing car seats? Y E S!! We’re saving many lives each year.
In 1970 58 children died between ages 0-6 years in Sweden. Fast forward to 2007 or 2008 and things look a different. During both 2007 and 2008 only 2 children died each year in traffic accidents in age 0-6 in Sweden. Cars are much safer today but main difference is that children today sit in rear facing car seats with easy rear facing to age 4 or longer. Difference between 1970 and 2008 is 56 lives saved. Is that a lot? I think so but it’s of course a subjective opinion. The quote “A parent should never have to bury their own child” is something which I think we all agree with. (Number refers to all traffic accideents, not only kids in cars. A toddler being run over on the sidewalk is also included in the fatality and injury stats)
We often look at fatalities but not at serious injuries in children. In 1970 there were 283 seriously injured children in traffic accidents in Sweden. In 2007 there were 41 seriously injured kids in age 0-6 years. Number for 2008 was 54. Great progress here as well. We still have work to do but parents are doing a great job.
What happens in a crash at the very low speed of 30 km/h (19 mph) wearing no seat belts? Please look at the clip below and note what object is thrown through the front window. Don’t forget, colliding at 30 km/h is the same force as dropping your child head first into the ground from a 3rd floor balcony.
Where are the chest clips?
A common question by parents is why Swedish rear facing car seats lack chest clips. Aren’t chest slips necessary? Are seats without chest clips secure and safe?
Swedish car seats are certified according the the European standard ECE R44 which is fairly strong, a bit stricter than the US standard FVMSS 213 to compare with something. The European standard has no chest clips on purpose, it’s a safety feature. The standard says one must be able to unbuckle a car seat with one hand in case of an emergency.
A chest clip is a pre-crash positioner. It’s function is to hold harness in the right place before the accident. It’s completely normal for a chest clip to break during a collision. A simplified reason why chest clips exist is because many parents don’t tighten the harness properly. It’s usually too loose which affect safety negatively in a collision.
Swedish car seats often have harness placed more narrow across the shoulders which means no chest clips are necessary (or allowed). Can a chest clip be added to a Swedish rear facing seat? There are third party chest clips available but one should always be careful with adding accessories which are not included with the car seat. Please make sure it’s appropriate for your type of seat before adding a chest clip.
Win a Swedish rear facing car seat!
There are many people around the world who work hard to spread the enormous benefits of rear facing car seats. One of those is Helena who run the popular site Rearfacing.co.uk which has helped tens of thousands of parents in UK learn about rear facing. UK is like most other countries 30 years behind in car seat safety but Helena is changing attitudes quickly. I believe some of the manufacturers who push forward facing for 9-12 month old kids refer to her as a “pain in the a**” which I think is a huge compliment;-)
Helena is right now doing a competition where you can win a rear facing Swedish car seat donated by www.CarSeat.se. Go to rearfacing.co.uk and answer the question “How many times safer is a rear facing car seat in a frontal collision?”. If you don’t know the answer it can easily be found on this site or over at rearfacing.co.uk.
All entries need to be submitted by December 1 2009. Shortly thereafter a rear facing Swedish car seat of your choice could be delivered to your door! We would love for you to get the word out even more about rear facing car seats so we have created a poster promoting this competition. Please download it here and help us by distributing it anywhere you can.
Thank you!
Britax new colors are (almost) here!
Britax new colors are almost here (see slideshow below or external gallery by clicking here). Not all companies are great at timing deliveries, especially new colors, but Britax are as usual reliable. Select models and colors are being delivered this week. New colors are similar to previous lineup with no big changes. Color “Claire” is now gone and has been substituted by “Florian” which I think will be a popular color. “Claire” was nice but perhaps a bit too extreme with the brown colors. “Florian” is more discreet and will fit nicely in most cars.
Where are the pink and girly colors? This a common questions by parents. Swedes are quite boring practical, the darker colors work well with the long winters and muddy shoes….. Pink is not a common request but Britax has introduced a nice pink color this year, “Bella”, which will be available for the infant seat Baby-Safe and also the excellent high back boosters Kid Plus and Kid Fix. Pink stands for a small part of overall sales so it’s understandable it’s not available for all seats.
New for this year is harness holders on side of seat which will keep harness out of the way when kids climb into the car seat. 2010 catalog from Britax is also nothing but spectacular with nice appealing layout, awesome photos, and high quality paper. Nicely done!
Britax Multi Tech saves a life!
A large number of parents daily send emails to www.CarSeat.se with all sorts of great questions about rear facing and the Swedish car seats. The email below is a little different (and scary) since it involves a terrible crash. Many thanks to A-L in Finland for the actual photo of the crashed car and for getting the story from the mother:
The accident took place in Finland November 2008, on Fathers Day. Mother and daughter were on their way to grandma in their Nissan Primera Hatchback -05. Daughter was 9 months old and sat rear facing in the back seat in her Britax Multi Tech which was only a month or two old.
Mother was in the early stages of a pregnancy and constantly felt exhausted. After a while she was so tired she had to stop and walk around for a while before continuing to drive. Mother then continued driving but unfortunately fell asleep at the wheel shortly thereafter……
Her car crossed the middle lane at 50 MPH (80 km/h), continued across lane going in opposite direction, hit a ditch on side of road and then hit a large pile of timber. Her car then flipped four times.
All windows shattered and there was glass everywhere. Trunk of the car popped open, the stroller was found in the woods. Airbag deployed which meant mother remained protected by airbag and seat belt. Injuries to the mother consisted luckily only of scrapes from all the broken glass.
Daughter, who had been asleep in her Multi Tech was perfectly fine except for a few scrapes from all the broken glass. Mother made it out of the car by herself but could not reach her daughter since doors were impossible to open. Daughters car seat looked like nothing happened. It hadn’t moved an inch and support leg was just were it was supposed to be. Everything was working perfectly when she was lifted out of the car.
Firemen and ambulance staff scene were impressed: “If she hadn’t had such a great car seat she never would have made it. It’s one of the best car seats we’ve seen, we especially like the wings on the head support”.
The mother had purchased her Britax Multi Tech on “gut feeling”. Salesperson had recommended a far cheaper car seat but she felt strongly about having a safe rear facing car eat with nice head support. Her new replacement seat after the accident was not surprisingly another Multi Tech.
Daughter in the accident has now become a big sister and everything is going well. Mother is planning on an additional Multi Tech when her youngest daughter is old enough.
Terrible accident with a great ending. Is Britax Multi Tech that much safer than other Swedish rear facing car seats? The answer is no. Multi Tech is a great seat with nice head support which keeps children rear facing longer than any other seat in the world but safety is equally great in other seats such as DuoLogic, Britax Hi-Way, Britax Two-Way, Maxi Cosi Mobi, and Izikid Isofix.
The important thing is for children to remain rear facing as long as possible, preferably to age 4or longer. The child above was 9 months old and sitting rear facing. What would have happened if she was sitting forward facing at this age? It’s very likely this terrible crash would have ended very badly for the daughter with death or serious injury as a result.
Rear Facing - What About Leg Space?
A very common question from parents just learning of rear facing is about leg space. Where do the legs go? My 6-month old is getting cramped with leg space, how can my toddler sit rear facing? Is it dangerous to sit rear facing in a crash from the rear?
Lets start with safety, are rear facing children at risk in collisions from the rear? Research and real life experiences show rear facing children are also extremely safe in collisions from the rear. The usual statement is “rear facing children are as safe or safer than forward facing children in collisions from the rear“. These collisions are usually far less severe than frontal collisions due to crash dynamics. Collisions from the rear also account for only about 5% of total collisions.
Rear facing children can get injured in these collisions but it’s rare. We also know from experience that we can repair injuries to legs which we most often can’t do with injuries to head and neck. Children who sit forward facing are not exempt from injuries as well. Research show that injuries to lower extremities in forward facing children are quite common.
What about leg space? Rear facing children sit with legs bent which is both safe and comfortable. Look at your toddler during those play sessions. Legs are always bent, children are far more flexible than us adults and enjoy sitting with legs bent or crossed.
Here in rear facing heaven Sweden most parents keep children rear facing until age 4 or longer. So far I have never heard a child complain about feeling cramped in the car or being uncomfortable. Kids are perfectly happy rear facing at age 4-5 and it’s also common in Sweden who has led the world in car seat safety since 1960. If you want to see older kids rear facing, please take a look at the gallery.
How safe are Swedish rear facing car seats?
This question comes up fairly often in the avalanche of emails received each day at CarSeat.se. How safe is my child when riding rear facing in a Britax Multi Tech, Maxi Cosi Mobi, DuoLogic, etc? The answer is unbelievably safe.
There is research which show the tremendous rear facing benefits for young children but not much for children aged 2-5. Why is this? It’s because no other country keep children rear facing as long as Sweden, the recommendation is rear facing to at least 4 years of age. A recommendation followed by a large percentage of parents.
Sweden has been rear facing children since 1965 and have a tremendous amount of research and real life experience showing just how great rear facing is. Back to the question of just how safe rear facing is.
Statistics, data, research and real life experiences accumulated over all these years show children almost never die or become seriously injured in correctly installed Swedish seats. Most often it takes a tragic, unsurvivable and catastrophic accident to cause great damage to a child. What does this mean? It means accidents not possible to survive regardless of seats used. Examples are a car skidding into a river, fire, or being hit by a very large vehicle at high speed, etc. Tragic but extremely unlikely events.
In both 2007 and 2008 only 2 children died in traffic accidents in Sweden in ages 0-6. These accidents were catastrophic and unsurvivable. That’s a phenomenal safety record which show the huge rear facing benefits and also what a great job parents are doing with car seat safety.
A day in car seat heaven
Tuesday this week was spent in car seat heaven. I was invited to a safety conference in Gothenburg where the small and elite group of car seat researchers met. It was a day filled with interesting presentations by some extremely knowledgeable researchers. A large group from US was there, among them the fantastic research team from CHOP (Children’s Hospital in Pennsylvania) with well known names such as Flaura Winston and Kristy Arbogast. Lotta Jacobbson, the often quoted researcher from Volvo , was also there and listeners included well known names such as Tommy Pettersson and Robert Bell. It was like being back stage at a U2 concert (if you love car seats:-))
These people are on the cutting edge of safety research for children in cars and do work that help to keep our chidlren safe in cars. A few topics discussed:
- History of Child Safety in Sweden ‐ Hans Norin, Chalmers University of Technology/SAFER
- Global Trends in Child Occupant Protection from Real World Crash Data – Flaura Winston, Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia
- Pediatric Anatomic Development and Biomechanics – Part 1: Head and Cervical Spine ‐ Matthew Maltese, Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia
- Child anthropometry and optimal belt fit – Matthew Reed, University of Michigan
- Child specific injuries and injury mechanisms: a view from the surgery suite – Michael Nance, Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia
- Challenges and opportunities for Child Occupant Protection: a vehicle manufacturer’s perspective – Lotta Jakobsson, Volvo Cars/ SAFER
Matthew Reed had done interesting research on boosters in US, specifically the safety difference between well known models of dedicated high back boosters and convertible seats. Some models are far better than others. I focus mainly on rear facing seats but the booster research was something parents could benefit from.
Lotta Jacobsson talked about manufacturers equipping cars with built in boosters directly in cars. Volvo is as always leading research in this area. She also talked briefly about Volvo co-branding the very popular Britax Multi Tech which allow kids to easily and comfortably rear face to age 5+.
Michael Nance from CHOP had interesting views from a surgery point of view. Short summary, we need to protect the head. We can fix arms and legs, not so with brain, head, and neck. This is a huge benefit from rear facing. More on this later.
Overall is was a real privilege to take part of new research from these researchers whow work very hard so our children will travel safer in cars.
Have a nice weekend!
Traveling with rear facing car seats
Is it safe to fly with children? This is a common question in many internet forums. Unfortunately, the advice given out seem to scare parents instead of offering sound safety advice. Comments such as “Don’t you want your baby to be safe???? I would NEVER fly without a car seat on the plane!” or “You must use a car seat! Turbulence could kill your little boy” are quite common. What does data, statistics and real life experience say?
Focus should be on protecting children on the ground, safety on board is already safer than sitting down at the dinner table. That ride to/from the airport in a car mean thousands of times higher risk for injury compared to the actaul flight.
Everything we know today says flying, with or without a car seat, is the safest thing a parent can do with a child. Despite the incredibly high number of flights, 25 000+ per day in US alone, it’s almost unheard of to have a child (or adult) injured or die on board a plane due to turbulence. It’s also incredibly rare, one has to dig really deep, to find even one single child which was saved purely by using a car seat in a crash. A parent should therefore feel very secure about flying with a baby regardless if using a car seat, lap belt or just holding baby in the lap.
Facts also show lap belts give both adults and children plenty of protection, injuries or deeaths are extremely rare when a lap belt is used.
Turbulence in the skies over the United States has killed two passengers since 1980 and injured more than 316, plus at least 138 flight attendants, according to the Federal Aviation Administration.
Fifty-five turbulence related accidents were reported during the period 1982-1991, ranging from a maximum of 10 in 1986 to three in 1989. One fatality and 79 serious injuries were reported, ranging from 14 serious injuries in 1986tp four sserious injuries in 1983″ (US Federal Aviation Administration)
Most were hurt because they were not wearing seat belts, even though the ”fasten seat belt” sign had been turned on.
Flying without a car seat is perfectly safe and no parent should be worried about risks while in the air.
Despite being perfectly safe without car seats on board planes there are still good reasons to bring them on board. Reasons which has nothing to do with safety. Why bring a car seat on board?
- A familiar car seat might calm kids down
- A car seat might help children sleep better
- A car seat on board means no risk of damage to car seat together with regular luggage
- Using a car seat at your final destination should be a goal for every parent since this statistically is thousands of times more dangerous than flying. Bringing a car seat on board means having a car seat arrive at destination for sure.
What about if you want to fly with a car seat and it’s not certified or doesn’t fit on board? I’ve done 50+ flights with my children and always pack our rear facing car seats in padded car seat bags. Our seats come with us regardless of location in the world. Checking the bags as luggage isn’t an ideal solution but when seats can’t be brought on board or gate checked it’s a good compromise.
I usually wrap our seats in bubble wrap before packing them and also protect them further by filling the car seat bag with clothing and diapers. At arrival seats are inspected for damage and installed in airport van/limousine/rental car, friends car.
For your next flight, bring your car seat on board if desired but focus mainly on keeping your children safe in the car. They are already incredibly safe on board the plane.
