New, compact booster coming out
Jul 21, 2015, 9:26 am
#16
Join Date: Mar 2006
Location: France
Programs: United Plus
Posts: 1,761
I'm impressed that the guy who designed it is reaching out and participating. Yes, needs tweaking. I think he got that message. Hopefully they can iron out the bugs and get something using that principal.
Definitely a market for this gizmo out there! Let's see what's next...
Definitely a market for this gizmo out there! Let's see what's next...
Jul 22, 2015, 7:11 pm
#17
Join Date: Dec 2001
Location: NYC
Programs: AA LT PLT, SPG Gold
Posts: 2,564
That lap belt fit is absolutely atrocious.
Not really a great product if it doesn't do what it's supposed to do.
ETA: I honestly can't see it being certified with the lap belt over the thighs. There's lots of neat ideas out there, but it's kinda just ideas until they can get that FMVSS213 certification.
ETA: Another company that refuses to release their crash test data.
http://www.mifold.com/faq/
Not really a great product if it doesn't do what it's supposed to do.
ETA: I honestly can't see it being certified with the lap belt over the thighs. There's lots of neat ideas out there, but it's kinda just ideas until they can get that FMVSS213 certification.
ETA: Another company that refuses to release their crash test data.
http://www.mifold.com/faq/
Jul 24, 2015, 1:49 pm
#18
Join Date: Nov 2011
Posts: 1,731
The company test the product themselves and sends the results to the appropriate authority that then gives it a pass/fail rate. No grade.
Booster seats all work on the same principle. It's not a secret how they work.
This is a contentious issue for many parents and technicians because no one has any idea if the $500 seat performs better or worse than the $30 seat.
There are several companies that make public their test results and crash test videos public.
Would you buy a car from a manufacturer that refuses to acknowledge how it performs in crash testing?
I'd be really, really surprised if this pass testing without completely altering the entire premise of the product. We KNOW that a lap belt that sits that far from the hips will result in significant injury. My guess is that they're not releasing anything because as this product stands right now, the results are poor.
Last edited by CBear; Jul 24, 2015 at 2:07 pm
Jul 25, 2015, 7:45 pm
#19
Join Date: Sep 2010
Programs: HHonors Diamond; My Mom's Favorite Kid
Posts: 3,929
The company test the product themselves and sends the results to the appropriate authority that then gives it a pass/fail rate. No grade.
Booster seats all work on the same principle. It's not a secret how they work.
This is a contentious issue for many parents and technicians because no one has any idea if the $500 seat performs better or worse than the $30 seat.
There are several companies that make public their test results and crash test videos public.
Would you buy a car from a manufacturer that refuses to acknowledge how it performs in crash testing?
I'd be really, really surprised if this pass testing without completely altering the entire premise of the product. We KNOW that a lap belt that sits that far from the hips will result in significant injury. My guess is that they're not releasing anything because as this product stands right now, the results are poor.
It's interesting that you mention the seat belt across the thighs. Many new car seats are coming with short crotch buckles these days which results in the harness laying across the thighs rather than the hip/stomach region. I have two theories about this. The first is that the rear facing child will experience reduced ramping up the seat in a crash. The second is that routing the harness across the thighs of the forward facing child it will reduce the potential for internal injuries due to the harness. The fact that multiple manufacturers have started doing this in the last year or two tells me that they know something we don't.
I'm on the fence about making manufacturers release their results. As it stands today all car seats on the market are safe enough. But if they make grades public, then suddenly you might be saying to the poor mom that she doesn't love her kids if she can't afford the seat $500 A-rated seat.
I'd much rather see manufacturers be required to raise their forward facing minimums to 40 lbs and 4 years of age or beyond the rear facing height limit of their convertible seat. Kids are 532% safer rear facing than forward facing. I think that's the frontier to fight.
Jul 28, 2015, 3:38 pm
#20
Join Date: Nov 2011
Posts: 1,731
As far as I know Diono is the only manufacturer to release their crash test data.
It's interesting that you mention the seat belt across the thighs. Many new car seats are coming with short crotch buckles these days which results in the harness laying across the thighs rather than the hip/stomach region. I have two theories about this. The first is that the rear facing child will experience reduced ramping up the seat in a crash. The second is that routing the harness across the thighs of the forward facing child it will reduce the potential for internal injuries due to the harness. The fact that multiple manufacturers have started doing this in the last year or two tells me that they know something we don't.
I'm on the fence about making manufacturers release their results. As it stands today all car seats on the market are safe enough. But if they make grades public, then suddenly you might be saying to the poor mom that she doesn't love her kids if she can't afford the seat $500 A-rated seat.
I'd much rather see manufacturers be required to raise their forward facing minimums to 40 lbs and 4 years of age or beyond the rear facing height limit of their convertible seat. Kids are 532% safer rear facing than forward facing. I think that's the frontier to fight.
It's interesting that you mention the seat belt across the thighs. Many new car seats are coming with short crotch buckles these days which results in the harness laying across the thighs rather than the hip/stomach region. I have two theories about this. The first is that the rear facing child will experience reduced ramping up the seat in a crash. The second is that routing the harness across the thighs of the forward facing child it will reduce the potential for internal injuries due to the harness. The fact that multiple manufacturers have started doing this in the last year or two tells me that they know something we don't.
I'm on the fence about making manufacturers release their results. As it stands today all car seats on the market are safe enough. But if they make grades public, then suddenly you might be saying to the poor mom that she doesn't love her kids if she can't afford the seat $500 A-rated seat.
I'd much rather see manufacturers be required to raise their forward facing minimums to 40 lbs and 4 years of age or beyond the rear facing height limit of their convertible seat. Kids are 532% safer rear facing than forward facing. I think that's the frontier to fight.
I'm friends with a tech who put in a FOIA requests for test results for certain seats. Rejected. There is no grades. The way it works is that the company tests the seats themselves and sends in the results for certification. The NHTSA says yes or no. There's no in between. Plenty of room for improvement there.
Rear facing is 5 times safer for children under 2 than forward facing, not all children or all the time. Requiring kids to rear face until the age of 4 is completely unrealistic. There is no significant danger to a properly forward facing 3 year old.
Harness fit and seat belt fit is two totally separate things. Harness over the thighs have no relation to a seat belt over the thighs.
Aug 1, 2015, 7:49 am
#21
Join Date: Feb 2011
Posts: 312
Agree with the general sentiment here -- I don't need to know whether car seat A is safer than car seat B. I need experts to distinguish between safe seats and unsafe seats, and ensure that only safe seats are available for purchase. Every seat that's available for me to buy should be a safe seat.