Child Car Seat Safety and Usability Ratings

Safety, price, usability – whenever parents or carers buy a child seat, these three criteria are likely to play a key role in shaping their purchasing decisions.

Every child seat sold in Europe already has to comply with mandatory safety standards. However, very little independent data is available to help buyers differentiate between the hundreds of models that meet these requirements. Can opting for a more expensive seat provide additional safety benefits, for example? Above all, is there a direct correlation between the price paid for a seat and the level of safety and ease-of-use it offers?

The aim of TRL’s Child Seat Rating Scheme is to eliminate this information gap. Fundamentally, the scheme is designed to dovetail with United Nations ECE (Economic Commission for Europe) Regulation R44, the internationally recognised Standard on child seat safety.