Child restraint systems are the fundamental element for the protection of minors in the vehicle. However, a study of the
Spanish Alliance for Road Safety for ChildrenAESVi, shows that 9 out of 10 child seats bought on the second-hand market today would fail the dynamic tests with which they were approved at the time to comply with the European safety regulation.
The European Union is imposing increasingly strict requirements on child restraint systems
to be approved, with more demanding tests. In this way, car seat manufacturers are obliged to invest in R+D+i so that their devices meet the safety standards that allow them to place them on the market.
In Spain, two European regulations co-exist: ECE R44/04 and ECE R129, also known as i-Size, which incorporate new homologation tests that are just as demanding as the side impact test.
However, and despite the approval requirements included in European regulations, the purchase of Child Restraint Systems (SRI)
second-hand or second-hand through online sales platforms, is a common practice that has not stopped growing in recent years and, moreover, can be carried out without official control, without professional advice and without warranty on the product. This makes it possible to buy products without instructions, incorrect assembly and even with hygienic-sanitary problems.
According to the results of the study, 9 out of 10 seats today would not comply with the European Safety Regulation: only one of the tests laid down in the European Regulation ECE R44 was sufficient to determine that 9 out of 10 CRS were randomly obtained on the second -hand market hand
they wouldn’t be able to perform its function within the required limits.
During the pre-test inspections, a high degree of deterioration was observed affecting all CRS with a major loss of the absorbent properties of materials such as EPP or expanded PE, and in the cladding coating.
There were also clear
symptoms of aging of the material typical of the passage of the years, of use or poor care, of climatic varieties and poor storage. Even the lack of parts of this material in essential components was observed. These conditions can cause the CRS to misbehave by reducing its retention efficiency and losing functions such as energy absorption on impact.
After reviewing this data, the Spanish Alliance for Children’s Road Safety (AESVi) deems it urgent to ban the sale of second-hand child restraint systems, given the high risk associated with relying on an SRI “whose f
elemental anointings alarmingly can be reduced by the resulting danger to the road safety of children«.
Source: La Verdad
I am Ida Scott, a journalist and content author with a passion for uncovering the truth. I have been writing professionally for Today Times Live since 2020 and specialize in political news. My career began when I was just 17; I had already developed a knack for research and an eye for detail which made me stand out from my peers.
