About Car Booster Seats?
Car booster seats are used because normal car seats are designed for adults and not for young children. This causes the belts in a normal car seat not to fit correctly when worn by a child. If the belts do not fit correctly this can be dangerous for the child in the case of an accident or impact can cause injuries that may not have occurred if the child was using a booster seat. They can be fitted in place on top of the existing car seat to raise the child up and allow the cars belts to be positioned correctly across the childs body. They must be used with a lap & shoulder style seat belt and should never be used with a lap only type belt. The use of car seats for children is a legal requirement. On the 18th September 2006 the government introduced a new car booster seat law. The government estimates that the introduction of these measures could save around 2,000 children from death or injury every year.
Types of Car Booster Seats
The shapes, sizes, price and quality can vary and does. However Child restraints (baby seats, child seats, car booster seats and booster cushions) sold in the UK must conform to the ECE Regulation R44.03 or later standard (R44.04) And must display somewhere that they conform to these regulations/standards. To keep it simple there are high back car booster seats and low back car booster seats or booster cushions. Each have their different applications and advantages and disadvantages.
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All car booster seats are categorised using a system for child car seats that goes from Group 0 to group 3 Group 0 to Group 3. These categories are devised
from the weight of the child that the seat is intended for. A lot of child booster seats will cover more than one of these
categories. The categories covered by any particular design should be clearly marked on the item.
The following video gives a good short introduction to what you need to know when choosing and installing child seats in your car.
What Is ISOFIX/ISOFIT?
ISOFIX is the international standard for the attachment points for child car seats. ISO 13216 is the ISOFIX standard. The standard specifies the type of anchoring system for Group 1 child car seats. Standard attachment points are installed in vehicles and compliant child car seats can be fitted into them as an alternative to using the seatbelts to secure the child seat in position. There is an attachment point at the top and two at the bottom to hold the child safety seat in place. New cars manufactured in the united states from 2002 onwards were to have these installed at manufacturer. In Europe the system applies to both Group 0/0+ and Group 1 child car seats. The European system is very different to the united states version. In the European design two clips attach the seat to the lower anchor points unlike the open clip connectors used in the united states design. In the European standard, there are different installation categories: "universal", "vehicle-specific" and "semi-universal". The main difference being that "Universal" uses a top tether with the ISOFIX anchorage, "vehicle-specific" uses the ISOFIX anchorage without a top tether but in specified vehicles only and "Semi-Universal" uses the ISOFIX anchorage together with a "foot-prop". Group 2 and 3 seats however use a different system called ISOFIT. This system anchors the child seat or booster seat to the vehicle so it cannot move around when not being used. In the case of ISOFIT, the child is still held in the seat using the vehicle's existing belts rather than the child seats straps.
Travel System Pushchairs
Many pushchairs are now classed as travel system pushchairs and do in fact incorporate a child seat or booster in the design. Travel system pushchairs are intended to be an all in one system that forms a pushchair but also incorporates a removable seat that can be fitted into a car to form a child car seat. Some travel system pushchairs will also include things such as a carry cot and changing bag in the design.
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