A child car seat is designed to ensure the safety of the child when transported in a car. But for this it must be installed correctly. Avoid installation errors by using a child car seat that has an isofix mount. According to a study conducted in Germany, approximately 60% of belt-mounted child car seats are not installed correctly, which can lead to significant injuries in children during an accident. The regular car seat belt must be secured taking into account the inclination and tension of the belt. The car seat must be equipped with fixing clamps that securely fix the tape and will not allow the car seat to fly forward during an accident or during emergency braking. A chair that has an isofix mount can only be installed correctly. In addition, the isofix mount solves the problem of insufficient length of the standard belt, which does not allow the car seat to be fixed according to the instructions, motorists are quite common with this.
The isofix mount standard was first proposed by the ISO International Organization for Standardization in 1990. It is optional, but every year it is becoming more popular. Indeed, the isofix mount in the car seat makes the protection of a small passenger during an accident more reliable. How is this achieved?
The isofix mount provides rigid mounting of the car seat directly to the car body. Special brackets are fixed in the car interior, they are equipped with almost all models of modern foreign cars, but domestic cars are produced without isofix mounts. The brackets with the car body are a single unit, they are located between the back and pillow of the rear seats, and their exact locations are indicated by special labels. There are lock brackets on the car seat, which snap into the brackets easily, with a characteristic click. To facilitate installation and protect the interior of the car from damage by locks, special plastic expanders are attached to the seat. In order to disconnect the car seat, you just need to press the buttons or levers that unlock the isofix mount. Thus, during the accident, the child seat will not move in any direction, but will stand firmly in place.
Among motoring parents, there is an opinion that due to the rigid coupling with the car, the internal seat belts, when hit, put too much pressure on the child’s chest, which can lead to additional injuries. But the results of crash tests prove that the stronger the car seat is fixed at the time of the accident, the better it protects its passenger.
A child car seat with an isofix mount can also be used in a vehicle that is not equipped with an isofix system. The lock brackets can be deployed and hidden in the grooves of the chair seat. In this case, three-point machine belts are used to install a child seat . But, despite this versatility, not every seat can be installed in a particular car. The height of the rear seats of the car and the angle of their inclination may not coincide with the configuration of the car seat, so before buying, you should look at the instructions for compatibility of the car seat model and car make.