Consumer Reports on Thursday retracted a negative report on infant car
seats that left many parents worried about their babies' safety -- an
embarrassing revelation for the venerable magazine.
Consumer
Reports said it was withdrawing the report, issued Jan. 4, because some
of its test crashes were conducted at speeds higher than it had claimed.
The
original report said most of the seats tested "failed disastrously" in
crashes at speeds as low as 35 m.p.h. In one test, it said, a dummy
child was hurled 30 feet.
But the National Highway Traffic
Safety Administration said some of the crash tests were conducted under
conditions that would represent being struck at more than 70 m.p.h.
"Consumer
Reports was right to withdraw its infant car seat test report, and I
appreciate that they have taken this corrective action," said NHTSA
administrator Nicole Nason. "I was troubled by the report because it
frightened parents and could have discouraged them from using car
seats."
In an interview, Nason said more than 100 worried
parents had called the agency's hotline on the evening the original
report was released.
Phil Haseltine, executive director of the
National Safety Council's Air Bag & Seat Belt Safety Campaign, said
the report had raised doubts among many parents about their car seats
despite the "very rigorous standard at NHTSA."
Consumer Reports said it would review its study, retest the car seats and publish a new article as soon as possible.
Assocated Press 2/19/2007
