These are images that parents do not want to see: A child seat flies through the car unbraked in a (simulated) accident. If the dummy were a child, it would at least be seriously injured, if not dead. This is one of five child seats that failed in the current ÖAMTC test. Not all 20 candidates were bad, but none was rated “very good”.
The good news: Twelve of the seats tested with regard to the criteria of safety, operation, ergonomics and pollutant content were rated “good”, and three were rated “satisfactory”. Also important to know: The four failed copies, which cannot be seen in the video above, were not devalued because of safety deficiencies, but because of their high pollution.
Seat separated from the base
The Chicco Kiros i-Size with base was the only one in the test that noticed safety deficiencies: the shell came off the base during the crash tests. The manufacturer was informed before the results were published and has already reacted to the poor rating: Chicco launched a recall and exchanged the Isofix station for an improved design.
Pollutants are a relatively new issue
“For a number of years, the problem of high levels of harmful substances in the substances used that are hazardous to health has cropped up again and again. This can also affect well-known manufacturers, such as this year BeSafe with the iZi Go Modular X1 i-Size (with and without base), but also brands such as Osann with the Oreo 360 ° and Swandoo with the Marie 2 “, explains ÖAMTC child seat Expert Steffan Kerbl.
Two of the manufacturers affected here have also reacted. Osann offers the exchange of the polluted shoulder pads and Swandoo the exchange of the contaminated seat covers.
Broad field of good and satisfactory test candidates
Nobody achieved a “very good” this year, but the models Maxi Cosi Tinca (with and without base) as well as the Peg Perego Primo Viaggio Lounge (with base) and the Cybex Solution S i-Fix just missed it: Maxi Cosi Tinca and Peg Perego Primo Viaggio Lounge showed a slightly higher pollution level, which was still within limits.
With the Maxi Cosi Marble, there were slight discounts for the high weight and a chunky exterior. The test results of the Cybex Solution S i-Fix, on the other hand, remained inconspicuous – in the positive as in the negative – and resulted in a “good”.
The Axkid One and One +, the Cybex Pallas G i-Size, the Joie i-Traver, the Recaro Mako Elite 2 and the aforementioned Chicco Kiros i-Size (but without a base) were also rated “good”.
The Peg Perego Primo Viaggio 360 achieved a “satisfactory” rating with generally average test values, as did the Recaro Tian Elite and the Britax Römer Advansafix M i-Size. The latter two achieved top marks in the pollutant test, but fell behind in terms of safety and operation.
The ÖAMTC generally recommends taking the child in question with you to buy a child seat and trying out the seat to be bought in your own car. Because only if the child seat fits the child in terms of size and weight and has been installed correctly, it can offer optimal protection in the worst-case scenario. “