CHARLOTTE, N.C., November 2, 2011 — BRITAX today announced new fashion choices for its best-selling convertible car seat line with Side Impact Protection and True Side Impact Protection®. Nine new prints are being added to the line, which also offers Superior 360 Degree Protection with Revolutionary Head Safety Technology to dramatically reduce the risk of head injury.

The following car seat models will replace many of the current fashions with new styles, listed here:

Roundabout 55:
Gumdrop
Silver Lake

Boulevard 70:
Silver Birch
Zebra
Aztec

Marathon 70:
Chili Pepper
Azalea

Boulevard 70 CS:
Biscotti
Cowmooflage

Advocate 70 CS:
Zebra
Serene

Now available in new, funky prints, BRITAX’s convertible car seats are equipped with the same revolutionary head safety technology that lowers the child’s center of gravity, strengthens the child seat and manages crash energy.

Together, these features reduce head excursion and offer the most advanced protection to children. These include:
•    Integrated steel bars that strengthen the connection to the vehicle and reduce forward flexing of the child seat during a crash.
•    BRITAX SafeCell Technology™ with SafeCells that are designed to compress in a crash. This significantly lowers the center of gravity and counteracts the forward rotation of the child seat, which normally propels the child toward the front seat.
•    Energy-Absorbing Versa-Tether® with a two-point attachment and staged-release tether webbing to anchor the top of the car seat. This minimizes forward-rotation and reduces crash forces reaching the child.

The updated fashions are available on the following: Roundabout 55 (SRP: $199.99), Marathon 70 (SRP: $289.99), Boulevard 70 (SRP: $319.99), Boulevard 70 CS (SRP: $339.99) and Advocate 70 CS (SRP: $379.99). They will be introduced at independent and mass retailers between November 2011 and January 2012.

For more information about BRITAX visit www.BritaxUSA.com, Twitter or Facebook.

About Britax Child Safety Inc.

BRITAX manufactures and markets lines of premium car seats, strollers, baby carriers and accessories.  Since its founding in Britain in 1939, the company has become one of the world’s most trusted juvenile products brands, known for its commitment to thoughtful engineering and top-quality, intuitive design.

Among the world’s largest manufacturers of car seats, the company offers more than 8 car seat models in the U.S. and Canada — forward-facing, rear-facing and convertible.  The seats are designed to keep a child rear facing and in a five-point harness longer, and can accommodate a child from “birth to belt” (i.e., 4 pounds to 120 pounds).  The company’s car seats consistently lead the industry in energy-management technologies that go well beyond the safety requirements of government agencies, offering superior 360-degree protection. The company’s innovations include BRITAX SafeCell Technology™, True Side Impact Protection® and Side Impact Cushion™ Technology.

The BRITAX stroller line is constantly evolving to meet the modern family’s lifestyle needs. The line offers versatility; a lifespan beyond one child; lightweight solutions for easy travel; and smooth maneuverability.  With thoughtfully designed details inspired by a mom’s daily interactions with her child, parents can rest assured that their children are safe and comfortable in BRITAX strollers.

Built for comfortable extended wear, the BRITAX BABY CARRIER line is made for baby and designed for parent.   The carrier introduces the CarryLong™ System, which reduces the risk of back and shoulder strain during extended wear by distributing weight across the shoulders, back and hips.  BRITAX also addresses the limited weight capacity ranges associated with leading soft-structured baby carriers by accommodating infants through toddlers from 8 pounds up to 32 pounds).

BRITAX USA is located in Charlotte, N.C., and employs more than 200 people.  For more information, visit www.BritaxUSA.com.

CHARLOTTE, N.C., Oct. 13, 2011 /PRNewswire/ — Four popular booster seats from BRITAX Child Safety Inc. — the FRONTIER® 85 SICT Combination Harness-2-Booster™ seat, the FRONTIER® 85 Combination Harness-2-Booster™ seat, the PARKWAY® SGL and the PARKWAY® SG belt-positioning booster seats — were given “best” and “good” ratings by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) in a 2011 study released in October, 2011. The independent study tested how well various booster seats provide proper vehicle seatbelt positioning on a child.

(Photo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20111013/CG86517)

The FRONTIER 85 SICT, FRONTIER 85 and PARKWAY SGL were among 31 booster seats to receive a “best bet” rating, and the PARKWAY SG was among five to earn a “good bet” rating. Researchers evaluated 62 boosters.

“At BRITAX, we encourage parents to keep their children safe in car seats as long as possible,” said Jon Chamberlain, president of BRITAX. “We work to develop car seats that can accommodate older, larger children while still offering the most advanced safety features. These favorable IIHS ratings for our entire line of BRITAX combination and booster seats reflect our long-standing commitment to keeping children safe.”

The BRITAX FRONTIER 85 SICT and FRONTIER 85 Combination Harness-2-Booster seats allow children who weigh up to 120 pounds to ride in booster mode. The booster seats accommodate older children and have unique features to help parents ensure a correct fit. Color-coded vehicle belt guides, arm rests and an option to add the SecureGuard™ accessory, help position the booster seats properly and safely secure the child. Additional features including Side Impact Cushion Technology® on the FRONTIER 85 SICT and True Side Impact Protection® on both the FRONTIER 85 SICT and FRONTIER 85 divert crash forces away from the child.

The BRITAX PARKWAY SGL and PARKWAY SG belt-positioning booster seats feature SecureGuard™, color-coded vehicle belt guides to indicate the path and positioning of the vehicle lap and shoulder seat belt, and arm rests to provide a secure fit and proper belt positioning. Both booster seats have True Side Impact Protection® which deflects crash forces away from the child. The PARKWAY SGL is equipped with the ISOFLEX Flexible Lower LATCH Connection System which secures the booster seat to the vehicle, prevents it from becoming a projectile when not in use, and stabilizes it during a crash.

All children whose weight or height is above the forward-facing limit for their car seat should use a belt-positioning booster seat until the vehicle seat belt fits properly, which is typically between 8 and 12 years of age, according to the American Academy of Pediatrics. Many states have age, height and weight requirements for the use of child restraints which can be found at the Governors Highway Safety Association website.

The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety is an independent, non-profit, scientific, and educational organization dedicated to reducing the losses — deaths, injuries and property damage — from crashes on the nation’s highways.

SOURCE BRITAX

October 4, 2011 | 5:35 pm

Children in cars will be required to ride in a booster seat until they are 8 years old under a new law signed Tuesday by Gov. Jerry Brown.

Current law requires booster seats for children until they reach the age of 6 or weigh at least 60 pounds.

Sen. Noreen Evans (D-Santa Rosa) said that does not go far enough, and Brown agreed. Exceptions will be made for any child 7 years old or younger who is at least 4 feet 9.

Similar legislation was vetoed twice by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger. The new law will go into effect on Jan. 1.

–Anthony York in Sacramento

CHARLOTTE, N.C., March 21, 2011 Britax Child Safety, Inc., among the world’s largest manufacturers of car seats, today supported the American Academy of Pediatrics updated guidelines for children riding in car seats.

“We endorse today’s American Academy of Pediatrics’ guidelines that children riding in cars should remain in rear-facing car seats until at least age two — or until they reach the maximum height and weight allowed by those seats,” said Sarah Tilton, Britax child passenger safety advocate.

“Britax crash-tests and studies of crash force management prove that rear-facing car seats better support the spine, neck and head and more completely distribute the crash-forces over the child’s body and car seat. This is especially true in frontal impacts, the most common type of vehicle crash.

“We also urge children to remain with a forward-facing five-point harness until they exceed the height and weight limitations of the seat. At that point, they should transfer to a booster seat that’s secured by the car’s seat belt,” she said.

For more information about BRITAX, visit www.britaxusa.com, or find BRITAX on Twitter, Facebook or YouTube.

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New advice from the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) will change the way many parents buckle up their children for a drive.

In a new policy published in the April 2011 issue of Pediatrics (published online March 21), the AAP advises parents to keep their toddlers in rear-facing car seats until age 2, or until they reach the maximum height and weight for their seat. It also advises that most children will need to ride in a belt-positioning booster seat until they have reached 4 feet 9 inches tall and are between 8 and 12 years of age.

The previous policy, from 2002, advised that it is safest for infants and toddlers to ride rear-facing up to the limits of the car seat, but it also cited age 12 months and 20 pounds as a minimum. As a result, many parents turned the seat to face the front of the car when their child celebrated his or her first birthday.

“Parents often look forward to transitioning from one stage to the next, but these transitions should generally be delayed until they’re necessary, when the child fully outgrows the limits for his or her current stage,” said Dennis Durbin, MD, FAAP, lead author of the policy statement and accompanying technical report.

“A rear-facing child safety seat does a better job of supporting the head, neck and spine of infants and toddlers in a crash, because it distributes the force of the collision over the entire body,” Dr. Durbin said. “For larger children, a forward-facing seat with a harness is safer than a booster, and a belt-positioning booster seat provides better protection than a seat belt alone until the seat belt fits correctly.”

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The following information was sent to us by Britax regarding the recent Chaperone infant car seat recall. Only the model number with the manufacturing dates listed are affected.

Recall No.: 10C-006
Britax Chaperone Infant Car Seat
Model Numbers & Manufacture Dates: E9L69N9, E9L69P2, E9L69P3, E9L69P5 Manufactured between April 2009 through May 2010.

Dear Britax Product Owner,

This notice is sent to you in accordance with the requirements of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and the Consumer Product Safety Commission. Britax Child Safety, Inc. has determined that all Britax Chaperone Infant Car Seats manufactured between April 2009 and May 2010 for Model numbers E9L69N9, E9L69P2, E9L69P3 and EL969P5 contain a defect which relates to safety. According to our consumer registration records, your Chaperone Infant Car Seat may be affected.

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CHARLOTTE, N.C., June 28, 2010 — Britax today announced a full redesign and relaunch of its line of best-selling convertible car seats. The new line offers Superior 360 Degree Protection with Revolutionary Head Safety Technology that dramatically reduces the risk of head injury and provides complete protection from all sides in the event of a vehicle crash.

 Head safety is critical because even tiny increases in head excursion — the distance the head travels forward during the crash — can exponentially increase the risk of head injury. Head injury is the leading cause of death for children up to 12 years old involved in vehicle crashes and comprises 65 percent of injuries in both frontal and side impact crashes, according to Child Injury Led Design and Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. With this in mind, Britax designed its new line to help prevent real world injury for children and make it that much easier for parents and caregivers to use their children’s car seats correctly each and every time. 

 Unprecedented Head Safety

 “Many parents don’t realize the violence of a crash. Even if a child is restrained in a car seat, his head can be thrown violently forward in a collision. Should his head make contact with the back of the front seat he can be seriously injured,” said Ron Marsilio, vice president of engineering and new product development for Britax. “We are on a never-ending mission to engineer car seats to be as safe as they can possibly be, especially when it comes to protecting the head. That’s why we designed Britax Revolutionary Head Safety Technology to minimize head excursion and help protect the child from injury.”

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Child passenger restraint requirements vary based on age, weight and height. Often, this happens in three stages: infants use rear-facing infant seats; toddlers use forward facing child safety seats; and older children use booster seats.

Many laws require all children to ride in the rear seat whenever possible, and most states permit children over a particular age, height or weight to use an adult safety belt. First offense fines for not complying with a state’s child passenger safety laws vary from $10 to $500. Some states also use driver’s license points as an additional penalty for noncompliance.

All 50 states, the District of Columbia, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands and the Virgin Islands require child safety seats for infants and children fitting specific criteria.

47 states and the District of Columbia require booster seats or other appropriate devices for children who have outgrown their child safety seats but are still too small to use an adult seat belt safely. The only states lacking booster seat laws are Arizona, Florida and South Dakota.

5 states (California, Florida, Louisiana, New Jersey and New York) have seat belt requirements for school buses. Texas will require them on buses purchased after September 2010.

To view the full list of state requirements here at the Governer’s Highway Safety Association.

Sources: Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) and State Highway Safety Offices.

NEW FRONTIER® 85 HARNESS-2-BOOSTER™ KEEPS CHILDREN IN A FIVE-POINT HARNESS LONGER

Britax booster offers children greater protection and better fit

CHARLOTTE, N.C., February 22, 2010 — Britax is introducing a new combination booster seat that offers the highest harnessed weight and height capacity in the industry. The Frontier® 85 Combination Harness-2-BoosterTM with True Side Impact Protection® allows children to remain in a five-point harness up to 85 pounds with a seated shoulder height of up to 20 inches. As a belt-positioning booster, the seat can accommodate children up to 120 pounds and 65 inches tall.

Designed to keep children in a five-point harness for as long as possible, the Frontier 85 helps safely graduate children who are at least 2 years old and weigh at least 25 pounds from their convertible car seats. The True Side Impact Protection technology on the Frontier 85 includes deeper side walls, and works to distribute crash forces, shield from vehicle intrusion, contain the head and body, and keep the head, neck and spine aligned. This is important because one in four of all motor vehicle crashes that involve children occur from the side, and these crashes result in a significantly higher injury rate than front or rear crashes.

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Report Date :  January 18, 2010 at 01:16 PM
NHTSA CAMPAIGN ID Number:  02C053000

Manufacturer: DOREL JUVENILE GROUP

Component: CHILD SEAT: HARNESS

Potential Number of Units Affected: 54400

Summary: These Dorel Juvenile Group (DJG) child restraint systems, manufactured from march 15 to august 1, 2002 with 6 panel wellington webbing harnesses, fail to conform to the requirements of federal motor vehicle safety standard no. 213, “child restraint systems.” the uv stabilizer used in the webbing may not adequately protect it from deterioration by ultraviolet rays.

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