If you’re thinking of buy or renew your child seatTake a look at this report prepared by RACE and whose data has been curated by the General Directorate of Traffic to find out which are the safest and best valued models in general.
Safety is key in child seats
The RACE Foundation has presented its first European Report on Child Retention Systems for 2023 in which it has analyzed 20 different models of i-Size child seats of different brands.
Later, the DGT has collected all this data and has verified which are the models that stand out the most in the security section, obtaining a rating of at least 4 stars.
These 20 models of child seats have been subjected to a complete analysis that not only assessed safety criteria such as their behavior against side and frontal impacts, but also took into account other parameters such as ease of use and cleaning, ergonomics and quality. of its materials and finishes.
The Mark Joy It is one of the best stops coming out of this complete analysis. The Joie i-Snug 2 + i-Base Advance, designed for children between 40 and 75 cm (up to approximately one year of age) has been evaluated with five stars (the highest possible score) for safety and four for ease of use and ergonomics. The other best-rated Joie model is the Joie i-Snug 2, which is used in the same age range as the previous one and its scores are similar throughout.
As for seats for older children, from size 4 to 12 years, there are several options from three different brands: the Cybex Solution G i-Fix, the Numa Aace LX and the Swandoo Charlie.
ECE R129 standard from September
It must be remembered that a criterion that we should take into account when buying a CRS today is the entry into force of the obligation that all chairs comply with the ECE R129 standard starting this coming month of September 2023.
Until now, we could also get a child seat that complied with the ECE R44/04 standard, a pioneering child safety standard created in 1982. If they have already been purchased, they can continue to be used with complete peace of mind because they are legal and safe. Its purchase has even been authorized until September 2024, since those that have already been approved and are on the European market can be put up for sale. But they will not be approved anymore.
The seats of the ECE R129 standard are known as norma i-Size. These are equipped with harnesses and fastening with ISOFIX anchors, very easy to install and that prevents a seat from being installed incorrectly with the seat belt.
