2023 Author: Eric Donovan | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-05-21 15:44
For the first time ever, a child car seat was given top marks in a crash test. Other models only missed the top rating by a margin.
According to the ADAC, child car seats are getting better and better. In a current test by the car club, half of the 30 models tested received a rating of “good”; only one seat failed with a rating of “poor”. "It is gratifying that there are several good and therefore recommendable child seats on the German market for every age and weight group," said ADAC Vice President Werner von Scheven on Thursday in Munich. However, many parents still do not install their child seats correctly or operate them incorrectly - for the children this means a much greater risk of injury in the event of an accident.
A laudable development
For the first time, a seat was even rated “very good” by the testers. This is the "Maxi Cosi Cabriofix with Easyfix" - a baby seat for children weighing up to 13 kilograms or up to one and a half years. "This shows that the manufacturers of child seats are constantly developing their products and are not resting on their laurels", praised Scheven.
According to surveys by the Federal Highway Research Institute, around 20 percent of children in the car are still not age-appropriately secured with child seats, reported ADAC expert Hubert Paulus. For children up to five years of age, the safety rate with a child seat is significantly higher (95 percent), but errors in installing or operating the seat are particularly common in this group. Two out of three children are not properly secured here.
Negligent parents
"The older the children get, the worse things are with the car security," criticized Scheven. "In the age group from six to twelve years, five percent of children are not secured at all, around 33 percent are only buckled up with the adult seat belt, contrary to the regulations." According to the legal regulations, children who are not yet twelve years old = " or who are less than 1.50 meters must take a seat in a suitable child seat. "Unfortunately, for some drivers, beautiful aluminum rims are more important than a good child seat," said Paulus.
According to the ADAC, around 50 children are killed in accidents in Germany and around 10,000 injured, 900 of them seriously. According to estimates by experts, a third of these cases are due to the failure or incorrect securing of the children, it said. In any case, most parents completely wrongly assessed the risk of their children having an accident in road traffic and were of the erroneous view that the greatest danger is for the little ones as pedestrians and cyclists, said Paulus. In fact, the risk of accidents and injuries for children is greatest when riding in a car (59 percent).
Correct securing is extremely important
If children are a little taller, they should buckle up themselves, said Paul. You should also talk to them about why correct backup is so important. However, the final check should always be with the parents, emphasized the expert. Before starting the engine, parents should always check whether the child's seat belt is tight enough. (dpa)
