ADAC testing
ADAC, short for Allgemeiner Deutscher Automobil-Club, is a club founded in Germany on 24 May 1903 by motorcyclists. Originally, it was a German motorcyclists’ club, but was renamed the General German Automobile Club in 1911. By 2012, the club had over 18 million members, making it the largest motoring club in Europe.
ADAC operates as a transport insurance company, actively involved in promoting transport safety and testing various vehicles and road transport-related devices. An example of such products are child car seats.
Seat selection for ADAC
ADAC cannot test all car seats. Their selection is based on popularity, sales volume and innovation, a recent example being rotating or inflatable seats.
Testing Method
Seats are tested according to the standard to which they are built. However, in terms of frontal impact, ADAC tests at 64 km/h, compared to 50 km/h, the speed used in standard tests. Since 2015, ADAC tests have been using part of a Volkswagen Golf VI mounted on a test train. The tests simulate a frontal collision at 64 km/h for seats built to the R44 standard and a side impact at 50 km/h for seats built to the R129 standard.
Seat performance or load values are determined using several dummies placed in different positions. Static tests monitor the stability of the seat, belts and belt guides as well as the height adjustment of the seat and head restraint.
Since 2011, ADAC has also been measuring seat ergonomics, both for the position of the child and the space occupied by the seat in the car. 2 and 4-door cars and a minibus are used for these assessments.
Seats are also tested for chemical pollutants in textile covers. The paints used and the presence of heavy metals are assessed.
One of the basic rules of ADAC testing is that regardless of a manufacturer’s public stance on the test result, the test will not be repeated for the same model. However, a new model put on the market by the manufacturer with different characteristics will be tested.
Serious manufacturers take the ADAC test results into account and often withdraw models with poor scores from the market, investing more in research and development to produce better, safer, non-toxic and more user-friendly models.
In the Child Car Safety Centre, we have prominently displayed next to each ADAC-tested seat the score obtained, as well as the marks given for each of the criteria we looked at: safety, ergonomics, ease of installation, material toxicity and ease of maintenance.
WHICH test
WHICH is a UK consumer organisation founded in 1957. It has been testing child car seats since 1967. Products for testing are selected anonymously from various retailers. Independent laboratories and test houses are used to carry out the tests.
Each seat is tested for safety, comfort and ergonomic aspects. After testing, car seats are given percentage scores and grades. Seats with a score below 45% are marked “safety alert” and those with a score above 68% are considered “good”.
WHICH marks the seats tested with BEST BUY (for seats scoring above 68%) and DO NOT BUY (for those scoring below 45%) labels. A key factor in rating the seats is the clarity of the instructions and the ease of installation, both of the seat in the car and of the child in the seat.
STIFTUNG WARENTEST testing
Stiftung Warentest is a foundation set up in 1964 by the German Federal Parliament to support consumers with impartial and objective information based on the results of comparative investigations of goods and services.
This foundation purchases car seats anonymously from various retailers and uses independent test houses to test them according to their own specifications. The published verdict can range from “Very Good” to “Unsatisfactory” based on 100% objective results.
PLUS testing
The Plus impact test aims to check whether the body of a child in a car seat is subjected to lethal forces in the event of a frontal collision. The test is carried out in Sweden, a world leader in child car safety.
Tommy Pettersson, head of the VTI Testing Laboratory in Linköping, created the standard in 2009. Impact Test Plus is an additional test carried out by VTI, the Swedish National Road and Transport Research Institute, on car seats for the Swedish market. The seats are tested on all available seats in the car and in two versions: for Isofix seats for groups up to 18 kg and for harness seats for groups up to 25 kg.
This standard is extremely tough and many car seats fail the test. Here’s why:
- Higher speeds than those used for the type-approval tests of the European standards ECE R44.04 and R129 or i-Size.
- Very short braking distance, which makes the impact brutal. The shorter the braking distance, the more intense the impact forces.
- Measurement of forces in the neck area by special sensors installed on the test dummy. This is the reason why a forward-facing seat cannot pass the Plus test, because the impact forces on the neck area are much too high.
A car seat that has passed the Plus impact test ensures that the child’s neck is not exposed to dangerous forces during a frontal collision. No forward-facing, developmental or booster seats are Plus-tested, because they don’t work that way.
The Plus impact test is a voluntary test and the decision to perform it is the manufacturer’s.
Seats that pass the Plus test are priced higher than those tested by other methods, due to the rigour and extra level of safety offered.
Conclusion
The ADAC, WHICH, Stiftung Warentest and Plus tests provide essential information for parents, helping them to choose the safest car seats for their children. Each test has its own criteria and methods, but they all aim to improve children’s safety on the road
It’s fantastic that these tests exist and can offer reassurance to parents who genuinely want their little ones to travel in safety and comfort.
We do not understand in this context why it is that some manufacturers of car seats with poorer crash test results do not understand the point of crash tests and challenge them, rather than focusing on improving poorer performing models.
Such excuses have no place in communicating an important brand:
“Best in tests…” or “Best in reality”?
It’s hard to choose the right car seat for your child. And it’s also expensive. If you end up needing it, you want the best.
The world’s biggest car seat test is being carried out in Germany in collaboration with a number of organisations, including the Consumer Council of Norway and ADAC in Germany. As part of the test, a test dummy is installed in dozens of different car seats mounted in the backseat of a 2017 Volkswagen Polo model and is slammed head-on into a wall, simulating a side collision. The impact on the test dummy’s vital organs is then measured. The test is rigorous and well done.
The problem is that most people don’t drive a 2017 Volkswagen Polo. Its back seat has a pretty specific shape. The results you see in the test would have been different if you put the same car seat in a Tesla, an Audi, a BYD, or another car that has a much flatter backseat than the Polo. Nor does the German test measure how a car seat handles rear-end collisions. This is, of course, a big weakness.
Our aim is to be the best in reality. We cannot optimise our seats just for a certain type of car or situation. Even if that means we don’t always win the tests.
