Car Seat Safety

Tested for Safety R44.04 and i-size

Did you know that there is no legislation governing car seat accessories? While car seats are rigorously tested, most car seat accessories aren’t.  But we are parents first and the safety of children is paramount to us.

The Morrck Baby Hooded Car Seat Blanket is classified as clothing and as such, it is not required to be crash tested. For our own peace of mind, however, we have tested it using the same test conditions used to measure the safety of child car seats in Europe.

The Baby Hooded Car Seat Blanket has been tested on a range of different types of child car seat using UN Regulations 44.04 and 129.00 (often referred to as the i-size regulation) test conditions. The requirements of Regulation 44.04 or 129.00 were met in all tests.

After much discussion and taking into consideration all the advice we had been given, it was decided that on the basis that all car seats must comply with the same standards, successful results should show that the standards for harness safety remained within UN regulations 44.04 and 129 (i-size) specifications as appropriate.

The All Season Baby Hooded Car Seat Blanket was crash tested in the following car seats under the strict conditions of UN Reg.44.04 and Regulation 129.00 (i-size).  The requirements of Regulation 44.04 or 129.00 were met in all tests.

 

Car Seat Make and model Position Regulation
Britax Safe Fix Plus Forward Facing UN regulation 44.04
Maxi Cosi Pebble Plus Rear Facing Un Regulation 129.00
Be safe iZi Go Rear Facing Un Regulation 129.00
Joie i-Anchor Rear Facing Un Regulation 129.00

 

morrck baby car seat blanket in a car seat ready for safety crash testing

More about car seat harness safety

According to the UK Department of Transport, 60 to 80% of all car seats are used incorrectly, with harness tension being the most common problem. This is a particular issue in winter as it is hard to tell whether you have a good harness fit if your child is wearing a thick coat or snowsuit.

For a car seat harness to work properly, the straps need to be tightly strapped against your child’s chest. When a child wears a snowsuit or thick coat, the straps are usually adjusted to the thickness of the coat, not the chest.  If you had to stop suddenly or the car was in an accident, the coat could compress, making the straps too loose which would reduce the level of protection for the child.

Test it for yourself

Find out if harness tension is correct or if a coat is too bulky for in-car use?

  1. Put the coat on your child.
  2. Strap your child into the car seat and tighten to ensure a snug fit.
  3. Remove your child from the car seat – leaving the straps exactly as they are.
  4. Take the coat off your child.
  5. Strap your child back into the seat – without adjusting the straps.
  6. Do the two finger test. If you can fit more than two fingers underneath the harness at your child’s collar bone, the harness tension needs to be tightened or avoid using the coat in the car seat.
  • Watch this video on how to do the test and see how much slack a thick coat or snowsuit can cause in your child’s safety harness. You will be amazed!
  • Then watch the video showing the difference when you use a Morrck Baby Hooded Car Seat Blanket.

You can do this same test, but instead of testing with two fingers at the collarbone you can just pinch the harness and if there is any slack tighten the harness until you can’t pinch anything.

Fitting your Baby Hooded Car Seat Blanket safely using a 3 point harness

Fitting your Baby Hooded Car Seat Blanket safely using a 5 point harness