Personal Injury: Consumer Reports Car Seat Findings Withdrawn

The popular magazine, Consumer Reports, announced that it will not be standing by its report on rear-facing infant car seats because of problems in the way the tests were conducted. The report, released in early January, alleged that many infant car seats failed crash tests administered using higher standards then those used by the federal government’s National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. Since then, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration questioned Consumer Reports side impact test procedure. “Our initial review of the Consumer Reports testing procedures showed a significant error in the manner in which it conducted and reported on its side-impact tests,” said Nicole Nason, National Highway Traffic Safety Administration administrator.

Consumer Reports Recalls Car Seat Study

According to Nason, the data indicated that the side-impact tests were conducted in such a way that it would “represent being struck in excess of 70 mph, twice as fast as the group claimed.” A spokesperson with Consumer Reports said that they will be conducting new side-impact tests analyzing all aspects of the article. They will also conduct an internal review. In the initial report, Consumer Reports tested 12 infant car seats including models made by Evenflo, Graco and Baby Trend. They originally determined that 10 did not provide adequate protection for babies. They promise to issue a new report with “any necessary revisions” as soon as possible.