Our esteemed overlords at Consumer Reports are always checking into products to make sure that not only will they perform as they’re supposed to, but to make sure that consumers are using them safely and in the right way. So if you own a Britax Boulevard ClickTight or Britax Marathon ClickTight convertible car seat, you’ll want to watch this video to make sure everything is installed the way it’s supposed to be.
Consumer Reports bought one sample each of the two Britax seats, and found that on both seats, one or both sides of the harness strap hadn’t been fully attached to its lower anchor hook.
So while the harness might be attached securely at other points on the seat, the worry is it could still come loose in a crash and render the restraint less effective.
When Consumer Reports asked Britax about the harness issue, the company sent a written statement saying, “Prior to using the seat, ensure that the harness straps are securely connected to the anchors inside the hook.”
There’s a simple fix, however: The five-point harness design lets you reposition the straps on their anchors, depending on the size of the child sitting in the seat. CR’s car seat installation pros simply followed the Britax instructions online for adjusting harness length, and as such were able to re-secure the harness straps themselves, making sure to engage the straps inside the hook.
To do that yourself, watch Britax’s video explaining how to adjust the harness straps, depending on how old your child is.
Consumer Reports notes that it hasn’t crash-tested these seats yet, though there were four complaints on the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s complaints database and another listed in an online owner forum.
Watch Consumer Reports’ video below for more information on how to adjust the straps:
Two Britax car seats could pose safety risk [Consumer Reports]
by Mary Beth Quirk via Consumerist
No comments:
Post a Comment