This is one of our more frequent car seat questions. It is important to remember when buying your child’s first, next or last seats that the car seat is first and foremost a safety device, so it’s not a stupid question.
All car seats must meet some kind of safety standard There is ECE R44/04 which tests for front and rear impact. We have a few of these seats in store and tend to be the more budget priced seats such as: The Joie Spin 360 or Joie Every Stage Car Seat.
There is ECE R129, more commonly known as I-Size, which conducts the same front and rear impact testing but also tests for side impact. As this is the current safety regulation you will find there is a wide choice of these seats in all groups. Take a look at the I-size section of our website.
There is the Swedish Plus Test, which tests car seats at higher speeds at a shorter stopping distance, with sensors monitoring data from the crash dummy’s neck. This is a voluntary safety test which manufacturers can put their seats through. To date only rear facing car seats have passed this test. Why? That is because whilst head-on collisions at speed do not account for the majority of car accidents, they are the most dangerous and can cause life changing injuries.
Check out this Video on Forward Facing V Rear Facing
So in answer to the question “Is this the SAFEST car seat?” if it is rear-facing then yes, it is.
