Child Car Seats, ISOFIX and LATCH: A Complete Guide to Child Occupant Safety

• Child occupant safety has evolved alongside the automobile, with major improvements in seat belts, airbags, and dedicated child restraint systems.
• The earliest recorded child car seat dates back to 1933, when the Bunny Bear Company introduced a seat mainly to keep a child seated during travel.
• ISOFIX, also known as LATCH, is a child seat anchorage system that secures the seat directly to the vehicle structure.
• ISOFIX/LATCH improves installation stability and helps reduce incorrect fitting.
• Good child seats should provide maximum protection, proper comfort, and a snug fit.
• The two key international standards are ECE R44 and UN R129.
• Rearward-facing seats are broadly recommended for infants up to 15 months.
• Forward-facing seats are suitable for children up to 18 kilograms.
• A booster seat helps position the seatbelt correctly on the child’s shoulder.
• ISOFIX is standard in every modern Volkswagen available in South Africa.

Advancing Child Passenger Safety

Aligning closely with the evolution of the automobile, notably in terms of people’s reliance on personal transport and average respective speed capabilities, has been the need to keep occupants safe. This includes advances in both active and passive safety systems, advanced seat belt and airbag technologies, and, of course, more sophisticated child occupant protection in the form of dedicated seating.

While we’ve come a long way since 1933, when the US-based Bunny Bear Company marketed the earliest-recorded child car seat as a means of keeping a child seated in one place over a car journey, the principle of having young occupants securely seated remains at the heart of modern child seat design.

ISOFIX and LATCH

Following steadily increased global legislation aimed at significantly reducing the chances of child occupancy injury in the event of a motor vehicle accident, as well as more stringent testing of new car seat innovations, it became apparent that the most effective way of securing a child car seat within an automobile was a setup whereby this item is tethered directly to the vehicle’s structure.

A collaboration between German car seat specialists Britax Römer and Volkswagen, the so-called ISOFIX anchorage system, which was introduced in the fourth-generation Volkswagen Golf, would prove to be a game-changing innovation. Also known as LATCH (Lower Anchors and Tethers for Children), this setup required an infant car seat to be affixed directly to the car’s undercarriage via a base unit. Additional protection can be provided by a so-called top-tether that attaches to points behind the car’s second-row backrest, or via a supporting leg that lowers to the footwell.

Using the universally used ISOFIX symbol, these mounting points take the form of metal rounds sighted behind the cushion of a second-row seat. Some vehicles offer this functionality in the front passenger seat, although it requires the airbags at this location to be disengaged.

What makes a good child seat?

With several online research tools available to the modern consumer, an ADAC (General German Automobile Club) test rating is generally considered one of the better tools for comparing car seats. That said, with this European test being strictly independent, some otherwise excellent brands might still be awaiting an invitation to participate.

The two international standards that all car seats must comply with are known as ECE R44 and UN R129, one based on weight and the other on height. These ratings are denoted by an orange sticker placed at the bottom of the seat.

A key aspect of a good child seat is its ability to provide maximum protection via optimal comfort. That said, your child must fit snugly within the padded confines of the seat. This includes the placement of the belts and buckles, as well as the positioning of the occupant’s spine, neck area and head.

It’s broadly acknowledged that infants up to the age of 15 months should be seated rearward-facing in a moving vehicle. The next stage is a forward-facing seat suitable for children up to 18 kilograms (around 4 years old), followed by a booster seat, which encourages the child’s shoulder to align with the vehicle’s seatbelt height.

ISOFIX is standard in every modern Volkswagen available in South Africa.