Consequences of waiting 20 years for booster seat safety standards
Philadelphia-- Side-impact videos of Evenflo, one of the biggest sellers of children’s booster seats, reveal safety tests were nearly impossible to fail. The investigation by ProPublica questions some of the safety claims made by the company and reveals a failure of safety regulators to protect children’s lives.
In the video, a child is thrown violently in the Big Kid booster seat, despite claims by Evenflo that it was side-impact tested. While technically true, the video and emails between safety engineers reveal there were only two ways to fail the test: if the dummy ended up on the floor or the booster broke into pieces. That leaves significant trauma as kids were jostled hard by the side impacts.
Side impacts are more dangerous than front impacts for travelers, especially children, as there is nothing but a car door protecting the passenger from the car.
The report by the investigative newsroom included thousands of pages of depositions, statements, emails and videos from the company. Throughout the documents one thing comes clear: marketing often overrode safety concerns at the company.
For instance, the American Academy of Pediatrics recommends kids under 40 pounds are safer in full car seats. But when safety engineer Eric Dahle asked high ranking executives to top marketing the booster for kids between 30-40 pounds, he received a clear no. An internal document from the vice president of marketing and product development at one point responded, “Why are we even talking about this?... I have looked at 40 lbs for the US numerous times and will not approve this.”
Booster seats were sold with a note they are approved for kids above 30 pounds for years, until 2012. Despite the change, no warning was sent out to parents who had purchased car seats that said they were safe for kids under 40 pounds.
Despite this, and notes on the booster seat being side-impact tested, Evenflo’s top booster seat safety engineer the harsh movement from such impacts could cause catastrophic injuries--or death.
When shown the videos of the crash test by CBS News, Dr. Ben Hoffman of the American Academy of Pediatrics, said, "I think the word that I used to describe them initially was horrific. Human beings just aren't built to survive that amount of movement."
He continued that he would never want a child or loved one to be subject to such movement.
These dangers are the result of a simple truth: for 20 years the National Highway Safety Administration (NHTSA) has failed to enact regulations for side-impact testing for car seats and booster seats. Despite a Congressional mandate, seats are only required to pass a crash test for head-on collision.
With no federal data on crash injuries for children in booster seats, it’s hard to say if this problem is isolated to Evenflo or emblematic of the entire industry. But without consistent standards, consumer advocates continue to worry.
While pediatricians, consumer groups, and parent advocate hope the expose will finally lead NHTSA to establishing side-impact safety standards, parents should do the following things:
Follow American Academy of Pediatric recommendations for car seats.
Keep your child in full car seats until they no longer fit or size out. Never place a child under 40 lbs in a booster seat.
Place car seats or booster seats in the middle seat of a car. This will help further insulate them from side impacts by providing some additional buffer.
Carefully review instructions on how a child should be strapped into car seats and booster seats to ensure proper usage.
Evenflo provided a response to the investigation to CBS News. It can be read in full here.
