New European Car Seat Standard – i-Size

On the 9th July 2013, a new European car seat standard was introduced called i-Size. 
The i-Size standard has been designed to improve car safety by ensuring all children use a rearward facing ISOFIX car seat until they are 15 months old. 

Lack of child car seat usage in South Africa
According to the World Health Organisation’s (WHO) recent 2013 Global Status Report on Road Safety, South Africa fared very poorly, only scoring a 1 out of 10, when it comes to the enforcement of using a child car seat. The report states that child car seats reduce the likelihood of a fatality by about 70 percent among infants and between 54 and 80 percent among young children. With this in mind it is vitally important that parents in SA are provided with more information on the importance of using car seats and they are also given relevant information pertaining to car seat legislation like the new i-Size car seat safety standard. 

So what is i-Size? 
i-Size is a new European legislation that has been implemented whereby rearward facing car seats have been made compulsory for a child up to 15 months old. With this new legislation, age and size of a child is a more important factor when choosing a car seat instead of weight.

The new legislation also ensures greater protection for your child in the case of a side or frontal collision as side impact protection is now a mandatory test in the approval process. 

Lastly, the legislation requires all car seats to use an ISOFIX anchorage system which greatly decreases the chance of incorrect installation. 

All child car seats that comply with the new i-Size standard will have the following label on them:

i-Size approved car seats will also be more compatible with different vehicles. i-Size ready cars are expected to be available in early 2014 and will accept all i-Size and ISOFIX child restraint systems. 

Do parents need to buy new car seats now if they are not approved by the new i-Size regulation? 
All current car seats should be approved by the ECE R44/04 regulation. i-Size will not replace this regulation but will rather run alongside it for the next few years. However, ECE R44/04 will probably be phased out by 2018. 

As this is a new legislation, i-Size approved car seats and compatible vehicles are not available yet but over the next five years these will become more readily available so you do not need to worry if you have just bought an ECE R44/04 approved car seat (it is still a legal safety approved car seat). 

But what if your car does not have ISOFIX points?
If your car does not have ISOFIX points it is fine to be using a child car seat that is approved to be installed using a seat belt but it is advised to consider a new vehicle with ISOFIX anchor points. Some vehicles can be retro-fitted with ISOFIX anchor points but you should contact your vehicle manufacturer to check if this is possible. 

i-Size approved car seats coming soon
In conclusion, the new i-Size car seat standard will definitely improve the safety of our children when travelling in a car as well as making it easier for parents to choose a suitable car seat. However, there is no need to rush out and buy a new i-Size approved car seat or compatible vehicle as they are not available until probably around early 2014. The current ECE R44/04 safety approved car seats on the market are still legal for the next five years.

Information sources:
http://www.nurserytrader.co.uk/en/news/i-size-the-new-car-seat-safety-standard/ 
http://www.anec.eu/attachments/anec-traf-2012-g-034.pdf