You may have guessed that we are supporters of this particular Britax Isofix seat given the domain name! However, you made need a little more reassurance as to why.
As you may already know, Britax Isofix car seats are safe and secure if correctly fitted and this is much easier to do with the Isofix system. However, although these seats are rigorously tested by Britax themselves, they are put through equally challenging tests by other independent organisations to verify the claims made by the company.
The Britax Duo Plus in particular, it received a ‘good’ rating in the ADAC Motorwelt magazine in 2007, the European NCAP test recommended/good award in 2007 and Stiftung Warentest also rated the seat ‘good’ in 2007. The most prestigious award in the UK has to come from the Which magazine who awarded the Britax Duo Plus a ‘Best Buy’ in June 2009.
For your information, ADAC is Europe’s largest motoring club and has been in existence for over 100 years. ADAC’s publication, the Motorwelt magazine has the largest circulation in Germany and some of the tests it carries out include products related to motoring such as child car seats.
Euro NCAP publishes safety reports for new cars, including crash test performance for the vehicles including front, side and pole impacts, and impacts with pedestrians. Of interest in Euro NCAP reports is that Britax was the preferred car seat in over ¾ of vehicle tests carried out by them.
Stiftung Warentest is a German consumer safety group with over 40 years experience in testing products. Findings are published in two magazines and often on TV. As with most of these groups, the findings it publishes affect consumer behaviour and any ratings a product receives are proudly displayed alongside any advertising.
The Which magazine speaks for itself in the UK and it’s first publication was in October 1957. Formerly the Consumers Association, Which Ltd now runs this product-testing and campaigning charity. It has a strong reputation for consumer protection as well as being involved in advocacy campaigns on behalf of its members.
In brief, these particular Britax Isofix car seats offer two modes of installation, Isofix or a 3-point method. The unique Pivot Link system helps stop forward movement and the 5-point safety harness is easy and fast to fit. The Britax Duo has side impact protection, indicators to confirm your seat is correctly latched onto the Isofix hooks and a ratchet system for a secure installation. The performance chest pads help protect the child and the seat has 3 reclining positions for comfort. If you want to secure the seat further, you can choose to add the top tether and a 3-point seat belt. The seat is height adjustable for when baby grows and the covers are well padded and washable.
All-in-all, the Britax Duo Plus Isofix car seat is one you should consider for your child. It has received several safety awards from independent bodies and the Britax Duo continues to be a popular consumer choice.
Tell your child that this is their seat, and belongs to them only. Add that you have brought it for them not only to keep them safe, but as it is higher than their seats, they will be able to see out of the window more easily. The last thing you want to do is to tell them of the horrors that could happen to them if they didn’t allow you to strap them in! You are likely to instil a fear of riding in a car at all!
If they are older, let them choose the colour and become involved in the buying decision. Personalise the seat so it’s easily recognisable and make sure they have play things to keep them occupied.
Some people also attach portable DVD players to the back of the front seat headrest and play one of the child’s favourite films. This will give you over an hour of peace after which, it’s probably time you stopped for a rest anyway and/or the child is likely to be asleep.
Get more tips HERE.
Nowadays, you will normally find mostly five-point harnesses which are deemed to give the most protection to your child. This is because this arrangement secures the child more tightly and in the event of a collision, this would prevent excessive movement that would harm the child. The t shield and the over-head fittings do not secure the child as securely and could allow the child to be thrown from the seat in a collision.
A tether is normally a strap that is made of the same material as the seat but also has a clip that secures a forward facing baby seat again to prevent excessive movement of the child in the event of a collision.
