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Transport Canada Buckles Under Pressure: Agrees to Release Car Seat Test Results

In a sudden reversal, Transport Canada announced on Tuesday that it would release the results of hundreds of tests on child car seats conducted since 2003.

Prior to Tuesday, they were refusing to publicly release the six years’ worth of tests — paid for with the public dollar — because “there may be a potential for unfair material damage to the private sector without cause.”

On Monday, the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation reported on this issue.  They learned that these tests were similar to ones carried out by the NHTSA in 2008, which revealed problems with some seats, such as failures in side impact crashes and numerous cases of infant seats detaching from their bases. These results led to recalls and changes in car seat safety policies.

As you might expect, this news prompted considerable backlash.

Bruce Cran, of the Consumers’ Association of Canada, was outraged.

Shame on Transport Canada, what were they thinking of?  This is a Canadian ministry looking at things that might protect our children and they won’t tell us the results of tests they did with public funds? This is absolutely ludicrous.

NDP children and child-care critic Olivia Chow, said “The government has an obligation to protect its citizens above any corporate interests.”

Green Party of Canada leader Elizabeth May also weighed in, stating that putting business interests above consumer safety is “unacceptable.”

Transport Canada is tasked with ensuring road safety – not with protecting private sector profits. It is deeply troubling that critical research on car seat safety is being withheld. Canadian taxpayers funded this research and the Canadian public deserves to learn the results.

In many ways, this is not much different than the situation with the NHTSA’s 2008 testing.  The NHTSA only fully released its results after an investigation and extensive report by the Chicago Tribune.  At that time, Joan Claybrook, a former NHTSA administrator, said “What you’ve uncovered totally reveals the flaws in the current safety standard and also NHTSA’s negligence in not reporting this to the public.”

Some of the “flaws” revealed have to do with testing procedures.  For instance, no side-impact testing was required for seats to be certified.  Also, a standard “sled bench” used for crash tests does not simulate the effects of having a front seat.  Many car seats that passed the standard sled test, failed in actual car tests, as the baby dummy’s head hit the front seat causing high injury ratings. Infant seats flying off their bases could not be replicated in sled bench tests, but occurred frequently in real car tests. As of 2008, federal regulators were studying how to improve the sled tests.

Car seat testing is performed under standardized conditions which do not necessarily represent actual performance in different cars.  If your car seat can not be properly installed in your vehicle, it doesn’t matter how well it performed in sled bench tests, or in tests in a different vehicle. This is arguably the greatest challenge facing car seat consumers — parents — as they attempt to protect their children.

In response to this problem, the NHTSA has launched a website listing 5-star “ease-of-use” evaluations of hundreds of car seats.  And the U.S. Department of Transportation started a consumer program in April that helps parents find a car seat matched to their vehicles.  There is also a search function to find a child safety seat inspection location near you — something which all parents should do, no matter what their car seat or vehicle choices are.  Some reports indicate that as many as 80%-90% of car seats are installed incorrectly, or children are improperly fastened into their seats.

And while you’re thinking about car seat safety, check healthycar.org for information on toxic chemicals in your child seats and vehicles.

[This post was written by Heather Dunham]

Photo credit: Avinash Meetoo via Creative Commons License

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Comments

  1. Corey says

    May 29, 2009 at 10:16 am

    On a whole the car manufacturers, and carseat manufacturers are NOT doing enough to keep children safe in vehicles. It saddens me greatly.
    I’m a certified Child Passenger Safety Technician, and It freaks me out the the sled tests are done only at 30 MPH. They really have no idea how carseats perform at higher speed collisions. 🙁

    where did you get the photo for this post? The carseat appears to be missing the retaining clip that holds the two straps together at the child’s nipple line. Also the child looks young to be facing forward. Could be right at the turn around age and weight, but it is reccommended to keep rearfacing MUCH longer than that.

    Reply
  2. Heather Dunham says

    May 29, 2009 at 11:20 am

    Hi Corey, thanks for your comment. The photo credit is at the bottom of the post. I don’t know the story behind it, but I believe it’s from a different country where the regulations are different. I don’t recognize this particular seat, either.

    Another photo from this set shows the name of the seat — Priori MaxiCosi. I’m pretty sure that’s not a North American brand!

    When looking for a photo to use, I did notice quite a few that didn’t seem to have chest clips. If you look at the angle of the lower clip, I think it’s actually designed that way and not just “missing”. I don’t know for sure, but I suspect it’s not required in some countries.

    Part of the reason that I chose this photo is that it shows some of the inconsistencies with car seat regulations and usage, whether from governmental oversight or personal (lack of) knowledge.

    Sadly, too many parents believe that the “turn-around” weight is a requirement, rather than a MINIMUM. We went to great lengths to find car seats that would keep our daughter rear-facing as long as possible. She is now 2.5 years old and just about 30 pounds. We have her forward-facing in one car in a Radian (max 30lbs RF) and rear-facing in our other car in a TrueFit (max 35lbs RF).

    Reply
  3. Pumpkinbear says

    May 31, 2009 at 6:37 am

    That’s so funny, because that’s the absolute first thing that I noticed about that photo, too!

    It’s definitely not the approved standard carseat in the US–that chest clip is pretty important.

    Reply
  4. Car Transportation says

    August 23, 2009 at 10:42 pm

    Yeah. that doesn’t look safe at all. Baby looks pretty concerned too lol.

    Reply
  5. shipping car says

    January 24, 2011 at 2:44 pm

    On a whole the car manufacturers, and carseat manufacturers are NOT doing enough to keep children safe in vehicles. It saddens me greatly.

    Reply

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Our ethos is to provide news, information, and opinions on natural, green parenting to help your family live a greener, healthier life! Additionally, we offer personal consulting services to help you achieve your green living goals.

Jennifer is a vegetarian, yoga teacher, gardener, hiker, teacher, and mother that has been living off-the-grid for over 20 years.

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