What is The Swedish Plus Test?
The Swedish Plus Test is a voluntary crash test which has been available to all car seat manufacturers since 2009. The test itself was founded by the Swedish National Road and Transport Research Institute. By studying real accidents where children suffered severe injuries to their necks and heads, new lower stress-limits in neck forces were introduced as an important safety criteria.
The Swedish Plus Test is the toughest crash test in the world that exists today and the only one that guarantees that your child is not exposed to excessive forces on the neck which can threaten their life during a collision. This test uses numerous sensors on the crash test dummy; far more than R44 (Only 4 sensors used to measure the stress on a child's body) and R-129/i-Size ( 32 sensors used).
It has been shown that a child cannot withstand a cervical effort greater than 130 kg, therefore the Swedish Plus Test measures this force, establishing a maximum allowed limit of 122 kg. A car seat allowing a greater stress would never pass The Plus Test (But they can be R44 or R-129 certified).
Accordingly to our friend from Axkid, there are 3 main factors that makes the Plus Test extremely difficult to pass;
- Higher speed compared to the normal speed used by our European standards ECE R44 and R129, also called “i-Size”.
- Very short braking distance, which makes the impact on the car seat brutal, the shorter the braking distance is, the more violent the forces become.
- To make the Plus Test even more stringent, the forces exerted on the crash test dummy's neck are also carefully measured by sensors.
Car seats which are Swedish Plus Test approved always put the label on the seat for evidence that it has undergone its stringent testing, thus giving parents an assurance that their child will be as safe as possible in an accident.
Now you may wonder why The Plus Test is not mandatory for all car seats? Well, first of all, this crash test is so strict that no forward facing car seat has ever passed the test. That means that many car seat manufactures would need to remove millions of dollars worth of products from their shelves, incurring a huge loss for their business. And secondly, the materials used to make car seats approved by the Swedish Plus Test are usually more expensive.
Fortunately for the children of the future, many brands, who traditionally only produce R44 or R129 car seats, are now investing in Innovation and development in order to make their products ready for the rigorous Plus Test.
It is imperative that you buy an EU approved car seat for your child (R44 or R129 ) but to guarantee the maximum safety and protection for your child, it is vitally important that you make sure that your car seat has also passed the Plus Test.
At Safety On Board Middle East, all our rear-facing car seats are Swedish Plus Tested. We aim to bring you the safest car seats to the UAE, We believe that if a car seat it is not good for our own children, then it is not good enough for yours!
Search for The Plus Test label as below.
To Wrap it up: If it's not good enough for our children then it's not good enough for yours. So, look for car seats that have passed The Swedish Plus Test, as this is the toughest crash test in the world to pass, and will give you peace of mind when driving.
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