Safest child car seats revealed in latest round of ratings

Published date: 17 May 2018

Choosing the safest way for Victorians to transport their most precious cargo has been made easier, with the release of the latest national child car seat safety ratings.

The Transport Accident Commission has released the findings after 13 seats were tested through the Child Restraint Evaluation Program (CREP), which aims to highlight the safest child car seats and encourage manufacturers to produce safer and easier to use options.

While all 13 seats (representing 22 different modes) complied with the Australian Safety Standard, the CREP system rates the products on how far they exceed the standard.

KEY POINTS:

One rear-facing seat, the Nuna Klik achieved the maximum 5-star protection rating.
One booster seat scored 4-stars for both protection and ease-of-use.
Six seats got only 1-star for protection.

CREP is a partnership between the TAC, VicRoads, RACV, Transport for NSW, the NRMA and Kidsafe Australia.

TAC Senior Road Safety Specialist David Young said the ratings were an important resource for parents and carers when choosing the safest car seat.

“When traveling with a child, it is crucial that you are giving them the best possible protection by choosing the safest car seat you can and ensuring that it is properly fitted,” Mr Young said.

“There are many child car seats on the market and these ratings help remove a lot of the confusion parents face when they are ready to buy.”

VicRoads Acting Director of Road User and Vehicle Access James Soo said the right choice of child car seat, when correctly fitted, had been proven to save young lives.

"Child car seats are incredibly effective in protecting children in the event of a crash or heavy braking but only when they are fitted correctly."

"Research shows that children who are incorrectly restrained are up to seven times more likely to be seriously injured in a crash than those with the correct and properly fitted restraints," Mr Soo said.

Mr Young said none of the seats tested got five stars for ease-of-use, and one of the main concerns was ensuring they were installed and used correctly.

“Buying a safe child restraint that is easy to use can make life so much easier for parents because often child restraints get moved from car to car so finding one that’s easy to install and use is so important.”

Parents and carers can find the ratings at www.childcarseats.com.au, where they can compare different models, and learn more about using seats correctly and the legal requirements for child car seats.