At Britax, our commitment to improving child safety through research, testing, design and community advocacy is unparalleled. We design our car seats to exceed the safety standards set by the federal government and continually enhance our products with energy management features to distribute crash forces away from your child. Some of those features include our:
- patented Versa-Tether with crash indicator that reduces seat movement,
- HUGS pads that reduce the movement of your child, and
- convertible car seat bases that crumple in a crash.
And we test our products both in our own crash-test facilities and through independent parties.
Britax has its own crash test simulators, in the U.S., Europe, and Australia, that can certify to strict global requirements. Britax uses a sled so versatile it can also be used to certify airline seats.
Which tests are conducted by Britax?
At Britax, we are required to meet the following standards of the federal regulatory agencies:
- FMVSS 213 (Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards for Child Restraint Systems)
- FMVSS 302 (Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards for Flammability of Interior Materials)
- ASTM F 833 (Standard Consumer Safety Performance Specification for Carriages and Strollers)
- CMVSS 213 (Canadian Motor Vehicle Safety Standards)
Keep in mind that we do conduct tests that are not yet required by regulatory agencies, such as side impact testing, and welcome any changes to current federal standards that work toward furthering child safety.
Some of the development tools that we use and tests that we conduct at Britax include:
Virtual Simulation
Virtual Simulation involves digitally created car seat models and anthropomorphic testing devices (ATDs or child crash-test dummies). Computer crash-test programs simulate the dynamic behavior of physical systems involved in a collision and assess the injuries sustained by the occupant. Before these virtual tests can be conducted, engineers must create digital car seat models using anthropometric data, which help determine overall seat dimensions and harness slot heights and locations. The purpose of Virtual Simulation is to help engineers optimize design parameters before making physical models to test.
Dynamic Crash Tests (Frontal Impact)
As required by FMVSS 213, car seats must meet certain specifications when subjected to frontal impact sled tests simulating crashes at 30 mph. FMVSS 213 requires a standardized seat assembly, which is representative of a vehicle seat, and ATDs that represent children of various sizes. The test results help engineers to establish compliance with the performance requirements as per the FMVSS 213 regulation.
The performance of the prototype seats is evaluated using two criteria:
- Motion Limits
- Acceleration Limits
Data obtained during these tests include:
- Head and knee excursion
- Head and chest accelerations
These crash tests are taped with high speed cameras (1000 frames per second) in order for engineers to carefully observe the results in slow motion.
This picture was taken from a typical frontal crash test using Britax convertible car seat in a forward-facing position with 6-year old ATD (crash-test dummy).
Side Impact Testing
Currently, the US does not have federal regulatory standards for testing car seats for side-impact protection. In lieu of a federally regulated side impact testing standard, Britax has created a rigorous testing regime that simulates side impact crashes based on proven European test methods. Britax car seats are evaluated on how well they contain the head and minimize head, chest and pelvis acceleration.
More information about side impact protection can be found in our Side Impact Protection Revealed destination.
Vibration Testing
Vibration Testing evaluates vibrations being transferred to the occupant through the car seat. The goal is to create a car seat that is just as comfortable as a vehicle seat for adults and minimize the amount of vibrations that are transferred through the seat belt system.
This picture was taken during a typical vibration test on vibration test rig using a European Britax convertible car seat.
Pendulum Testing
Pendulum Testing is used to evaluate performance of individual components and as a quality inspection tool. The energy to which components are subjected during a pendulum test is correlated to the energy that the subject receives on a simulated crash sled test.
Component Testing
At Britax we realize the importance of each component of the seat and how they contribute to the protection that the seat provides for your child. We want to ensure that each component maintains its structural integrity throughout the life of your child seat. That being said, we invest more than 150 hours testing individual components on each product. Tests conducted include:
- Static buckle and harness testing
- Micro slip testing
- Harness webbing strength testing
- Buckle durability cycling
- LATCH hook strength
- Environmental testing – testing components in extreme environmental conditions including heat, cold and varying humidity levels
Market Research
Britax employs caregivers throughout the US to test products in real-life situations. The majority of market research is completed during the design process. We also feel it is very important to continue post production market research in order to gauge how the product is received and learn more about the areas in which we can improve.