The use of child restraint systems (SRI) is not only mandatory and essential for the safety of our children. There are also a whole series of recommendations to facilitate its use with maximum guarantees. The installation of them counterdrive (ACM), is undoubtedly the most expensive.
It is logical that, given all the information surrounding the child seats, fathers and mothers we can feel somewhat overwhelmed. The large number of models, together with the constant regulatory updates, complicate the process of choice and installation. In that sense, it is convenient to know that not all child seats protect the same and, in regard to the sense of their placement, it is shown that those that allow countermarking installation are always safer.
It is a maxim that is not mandatory, but shared by car and chair manufacturers, authorities such as the DGT, road safety groups, subject matter experts and researchers. The efforts to raise awareness of these professionals are such that it has even created a phenomenon in social networks under the hashtag #armarche.
The idea is to clear false myths that sometimes mothers and fathers get carried away and show what scientific evidence exists. We can stand out seven points that prove that countermarking is the safest until 4 years and beyond.
1) Reduce the risk of death or serious injury by 90%
This is the evidence that leads all research and work in the field. For example, the study of the Swedish insurance company Folksam points out that the risk that the child dies or suffers serious injuries is five times higher in a chair facing the march (AFM) than in an ACM.
Research has been confirming these percentages with data for years. Thus, in 2011 the MAPFRE Foundation already offered a study that echoed previous and reference work. Like the Norwegian manual of road safety measures, which indicates that “up to 4 years of age, child seats that look back are safer than those that look forward. While the first prevent 80% of injuries, those who look forward avoid 50% of them. ”
The equivalent of the DGT in Sweden (the Swedish National Road Administration) had similar figures in 1991. At that time it was already estimated that while cushions and booster seats prevent between 30% and 60% of serious or fatal childhood injuries, the seats under reverse avoid between 80% and 90% of these injuries.
2) In case of impact, the body weight is not distributed equally in one chair than in another
This scientific evidence is based on decades of evidence. According to them, in the event of a frontal impact, the force absorption that the little one performs in a chair in reverse it is distributed better.
The impact is directed directly to the back of the chair and the rest is distributed between the head, neck and upper body. In contrast, many AFM chairs do not facilitate this distribution of impact, causing the baby or child to suffer the blow to a particular part of the body, which poses a greater danger to their health. The most sensitive areas are head, neck, abdomen and, to a lesser extent, extremities.
3) Greater neck protection
Among all the areas that suffer in the event of a collision, the neck It is one of the most sensitive points. The newspaper El Mundo collected in 2015 the statements of Dr. in Physical Sciences and Professor of the Complutense University, Ana Urbieta.
Traveling in the direction of travel, both in a frontal collision and one per reach, the inertia of the movement pushes the occupants of the vehicle forward. The harness or the shield of the AFM chairs, retains the body, but not the child's head, so the pull is taken by his neck. And that neck is not prepared to withstand that force, and the spine is split. The only way to prevent that pull is to prevent the movement of the head forward using with an SRI in the opposite direction to the march.
4) Because a child's body is not like that of an adult
And, in the case of the protection of a seat, you can not fall into the error of assuming that the body of a child reacts to an impact like ours. In the head of a child, and more in that of a baby, almost a quarter of its weight is concentrated (in adults it barely reaches 6%). This changes everything in case of impact.
You cannot fall into the error of assuming that a child's body reacts to an impact like ours
In addition, we must add that the child's spine is not ossified. It is supported, not on a solid bone structure, but on three bone portions linked by cartilage. The protection of the spinal cord is therefore exposed. His musculature, apart, is not prepared for the reception of an impact at the same level that we can be. The difference is that what for an adult is a whiplash, for a child it can be serious injuries or even death.
5) ACM chairs are also safer in case of rear impact
This year we learned about the results of the Wexner Medical Center study at the University of Ohio with the Children's Injury Prevention Studies Center at Children's Hospital in Philadelphia. One of the most interesting points of this was to determine the safety of the ACM chairs in case of rear impact, since in that case the child is looking in the direction of impact.
The study demonstrates that the acontramarcha system remains safer in these cases, by allowing a more uniform distribution of energy on impact. In their report they also took into account the response and effectiveness, both of the bow and the roll leg.
6) The smaller, the more recommended
Since, as we say, nothing resembles the body of a baby or a child to that of an adult, the recommendation is that countermarking systems be used, at least, up to four years. That does not mean that after that age we can retire them or that the ACM systems lose effectiveness.
On the contrary, the ossification of the column is not consolidated until adolescence arrives. Hence the true meaning of the recommendation is that let's keep our children as long as possible.
7) Because Sweden has been demonstrating it for decades
Although it may seem that the counter-movement is a recent phenomenon, the truth is that it is a system of many decades. It was in Sweden, in the 60s, when these types of child seats began to be introduced.
The Swedish organizations themselves, such as the Swedish National Road Administration which we have already mentioned and its dependent laboratory (the VTI) have been defending the use of child restraint systems against the counter. Not surprisingly, thanks to these policies, they have the lowest infant mortality rate on the entire planet.
Britax Römer: children to counteract the maximum time
Sweden, together with some manufacturers of child seats, have a commitment with the safest child restraint systems. They have been answering one of those questions that we repeat ourselves for years.
How do we take children to counterattack as long as possible? And, when our children grow up we are forced, sooner or later, to renew the chairs so that they adapt to the legal requirements that mark their height. This can lead to the child going to travel in favor of the direction of travel with a new system, with the detriment that it entails for their safety.
Therefore, when choosing a chair, a key factor for safety is to consider models that allow countermarking use for the longest time interval. There are manufacturers such as Britax Römer who, aware of this issue, offer a specific range of chairs designed to fulfill this function.
Against the rear with the Dualfix i-Size and Swingfix i-Size chairs
Britax Römer has several models that allow ACM to travel up to 4 years or even more, among which the chairs stand out Dualfix i-Size Y Swingfix i-Size. Both are suitable from 40 cm to 105 cm high, allowing to cover the fringe of the child that goes from birth to approximately 4 years
What for an adult is a whiplash, for a child it can be serious injuries or even death
In fact, the Swingfix i-Size line has been manufactured precisely for travel exclusively backwards. The work of this company for the protection of children has earned him the Plus Test stamp. This is the most demanding security control in the world for child seats. Only some manage to exceed the level of demand for their tests in Sweden.
In addition, the Swingfix i-Size is the chair that in its age range highest score He has obtained the most important tests in the sector (such as those carried out by the German ADAC car club and the German consumer organization Stiftung Warentest), especially in the safety section.
For its part, the Dualfix i-Size chair has the same safety response as the previous model, but as an addition allows to rotate the position 360º. This can be a solution if we verify that, in the most advanced stages, our son rejects the ACM placement and we want to have the possibility of changing that orientation without buying another model. In addition, it is very practical to place and fasten the child in three-door cars.
Both chairs share a series of clear advantages With respect to other models:
- They are approved under the new UNR129 or i-Size regulations.
- They have the system ISOFIX and support leg.
- Its harness brings 5 anchor points.
- Rotate 90⁰ on both sides to place the child in the chair and fasten it more easily from the car door.
- They have up 6 reclining positions, both ACM and AFM.
- The roll bar is adjustable by 8 degrees, which allows the child more space for your legs going ACM.
- They bring a V-shaped headrest. More comfortable and safe in case of side impact.
- Its ISOFIX system is completed with Pivot Link, a technology that minimizes the child's forward movement in the event of frontal impact.
- In addition, they have SICT Inside, a system placed inside the housing with the function of absorbing energy in case of lateral impact.
- Another incentive is its soft neoprene pads and its cover, which is very easy to remove.
- Present two M versions, which dispense with the reducer for newborns and are suitable from 61 to 105 cm, so they are the perfect option for after the baby carrier.
Children's chairs, if they are countermarked, always better
Given the facilities for its back-up installation, the mentioned Britax Römer models make the chair choice easier. As they reported from the agency Car Seat For The Littles:
Backward-facing chairs are not a choice that should be made according to the lifestyle or opinion of the parents, but rather It is a decision based on scientific facts.
With this clear, it is a real relief to find chairs like those offered by Britax Römer. The manufacturer, not only designed its chairs based on the fact that the back-up placement is essential, but that it integrates it naturally in its models, adding an extra comfort For us and for the little ones.
