Crash-test failures prompt warnings over two child car seats

In a frontal crash test of the rear-facing Britax Römer Baby-Safe Pro, its harness buckle opened and an 11kg dummy was thrown from the seat. The failure occurred with the seat reclined on the Vario Base 5Z. ANWB advises against that configuration, but says the reported failure did not occur when the seat was upright on the base or fitted without it using the car’s seat belt. It stresses that a belt installation must be secure and correctly routed. [2] [4]

The rear-facing Axkid Minikid Core also failed in frontal testing. The Consumentenbond says its support leg retracted in both upright and reclined tests; in the reclined test, the harness buckle also tore away from the seat shell. ANWB and the Consumentenbond advise owners to stop using the Core, and the Consumentenbond directs them to contact Axkid. [2] [3]

Axkid announced a voluntary recall of specified Minikid Core production batches in September, before the Dutch warnings. Its interim advice differs from the consumer groups’: Axkid says affected seats can continue to be used until a replacement arrives under its current safety assessment. It says the Core meets legal requirements. The Consumentenbond says its crash tests are more demanding than the legal approval tests, so legal approval does not resolve the reported test failures. [5] [6] [3]

Britax Römer has said its seat worked without problems in its own tests and is investigating the result, according to Råd & Rön. A decision on any change, replacement or recall has yet to follow that investigation, ADAC reports. [9] [4]