Iso in a Fix

Isofix. A word bandied around willy-nilly in the world of child car seats. It's the closest I've come to hi-tech in the last few days anyway

25 January 2006 23:42 GMT / By Ben Harvard Taylor

Isofix. A word bandied around willy-nilly in the world of child car seats. It's the closest I've come to hi-tech in the last few days anyway.

Basically it's an industry standard, agreed by the car manufacturers, which ensures that the car seat is linked directly with the chassis, through some small fixings in your back seats. Not all cars have them yet but mine (a VW Golf) does.

Sounds simple doesn't it. Only, therein lies a problem. Car manufacturers are putting in the fittings, but not all are the same. Some require you to add additional restraining with straps in the boot or bracing in the footwell of the car. This means that only certain seats fit certain cars. Only one manufacturer currently makes Isofix compatible seats, so far as I can tell and they're bloody expensive. You not only have to buy the chair, but the base unit onto which it sits, making the whole exercise rather painful on the wallet.

So my question is, do the safety benefits outweigh the exorbitant cost of the chairs? The jury's still out on that. I'm reckoning on buying a non isofix compatible infant seat for the first few months and then possibly upgrading to the Isofix version when the sprog starts to grow. That way at least it'll get some decent use out of it.

Full tags

Dad