Counterfeit child car seats put children's lives at risk

Date: 2/11/2012

Counterfeit child car seats are becoming an increasing problem as people purchase the items thinking that they are getting a bargain.

In fact many internet sites offering child car seats at cut prices are selling a product which has not been properly safety tested.

Despite looking like the genuine article, crash tests performed by TRL found that these poor quality imitations do not offer enough protection to the child in the event of a collision.

Hamish McPhillips, from TRL’s Child Safety Centre, said: "It is very difficult to recognise these counterfeits, because on initial inspection they can look very similar to the genuine items."

In a recent test performed by TRL a seat which appeared to have the appropriate safety ratings came apart completely.

One way to detect a car seat being a counterfeit is that the manuals can be written in very poor English, which should immediately raise the buyer's suspicions.

Mr McPhillips said: "Take care and look a little closer at the finish of the product. The instruction manual and markings on the child seat should always be available in English and the seat should have an orange Type Approval label, to show it meets the requirements of Regulation 44."

In order for a car seat to be legally sold in Europe it must adhere to Regulation 44, which states a number of tests and checks to be undergone to ensure that they perform in their safety role.

Jan Deans, from Good Egg Safety, said: "This is an alarming issue and we would like to warn all parents and grandparents to take extra care when purchasing a child car seat. It is bad enough buying a second hand child seat when you don’t know its history.

"In this instance, parents are being careful and buying what looks like a quality seat which they naturally assume is a ‘bargain’ not appreciating it could actually be a death trap."

She recommends that people refrain from buying child car seats online unless they are from a reputable site that offers a fitting service to ensure that the product is installed correctly.

Posted by Sarah Bailey

Transport Research News and Vehicle Safety News