ANEC in Brussels is one of the strongest
consumer voices in Europe, and they have, on the basis of accident data regarding severel injuries and fatalities involving children in the UK, Sweden and US, concluded that it is without a doubt safest
to travel rearward facing. ANEC now hopes
that this report will put pressure on legislation
and consumer recommendations until
they clearly show that it is unsafe to have
children forward facing too early.
– This is a welcome message for us here
at VTI and a fine accolade for Swedish road
safety work, says Research Engineer Jan
Wenäll at VTI. This can be the first step
towards a new EU standard for the safety of
children in cars.
Availability and development of rearward facing child seats
Seats for rearward facing travel up to a weight of 25 kilo are already available on
the Swedish market, but they are difficult |
|
to find in Europe. ANEC hopes that this
recommendation will get manufacturers
and shops to make rearward facing child seats readily available and cheaper in the whole of Europe. It is also hoped that development and improvement of these seats will take place at a faster pace as the market and demand increase.
Voluntary labelling
– We will retain what has been called the
Swedish model, i.e. we will not only encourage rear facing travel in words but will also have a test method that promotes this, says Tommy Pettersson, who is head of the VTI crash safety laboratory.
Up to the spring of 2008 it was possible to approve child car seats in accordance
with two test procedures, a European code
and a Swedish one. But now child car seats
can only be approved in accordance with
|
|
the European code. Generally speaking, the great difference between the codes is that the European method involves comprehensive
testing of various components, while the Swedish method places a greater focus on measurements on the dummy's head. VTI considers that these two test procedures
complement each other very well, and we have therefore developed a voluntary labelling method for child car seats which includes measurements on the dummy's
head.
– It is important to emphasise that this
will not be an approval test but a voluntary
labelling test, says Tommy Pettersson.
/Magdalena Green, VTI, Sweden
Contact: Tommy Pettersson
|
