We first raised the alarm back in 2014, and made repeated calls to online marketplaces to remove listings for these products because using them could put your child in harms' way.
After our last report in 2019, we thought the message had got through. Unfortunately, we’ve spotted them being sold on eBay, Wish.com, Manomano, Shein, and an online retailer called Little Dreams.
Not only that, but one of these car seats was recently spotted at a car seat checking and fitting event. This is especially concerning as it proves that parents are buying and using these products in their vehicles, believing them to be safe.
Read on for what we’ve found and why they’re so dangerous.
: tell the government it must protect shoppers and stop online marketplaces from exposing us to thousands of dangerous productsWhat's wrong with these car seats?
In 2014, Surrey Trading Standards dubbed these products ‘killer car seats’ for good reason.
When car seat manufacturer Britax crash tested this car seat at 30mph, the test dummy, which represented a three-year-old child, was flung through the windscreen as the straps securing the seat came loose.
If this had been a real child, it would have resulted in life-threatening injuries.
Concerns around these seats include:
They fold up compactly and are marketed as a practical solution for parents. What’s more, the seats are all priced extremely lowly compared to a typical child car seat, with some as cheap as £12.50. A typical infant carrier car seat usually costs from £80 or more for seats that are designed to last a few years.
Our concern is that in this cost of living crisis, parents trying to save money will buy these seats as they’re so cheap and think that, as they’re being sold through UK sites, they must be safe.
What has our investigation found?
It trains local public services, such as the police, midwives or health visitors, in car seat laws and fitting. They were alerted by a member of Warwickshire police that one of these seats had been spotted during a car seat fitting and checking event.
PC Rachael Wonfor from Warwickshire Police said: ‘As a recently accredited child car seat check officer, I was shocked to find at a checking event I hosted in Rugby, a high number of fitting errors and inappropriate seats for children’s sizes.
‘However, I was not prepared for the frightening contraptions fitted in one vehicle I checked. They were a harness-type system intended to replace a child car seat to save space. The parent was of the understanding that these were perfectly legal as they could purchase them online.
‘Ultimately, these harnesses were not only illegal but would offer a child no protection in the event of a crash. I was able to educate this parent and ensure their children travelled safely by advising them of this dangerous product.
‘This leaves me wondering, how many other versions of this product are being sold and used daily, with precious children’s lives relying on them?’
Once Good Egg Safety had alerted us to this, we checked online and found many identical or similar products being sold on eBay, Manomano, Shein, Wish.com and Littledreams.co.uk.
: make sure you use a car seat that has been through our rigorous tests and you can rely onThe law on child car seats
The law on child car seats states that only EU-approved seats can be used in the UK.
You should use a child car seat that:
We bought a fabric car seat from Littledreams.co.uk and it lacked any form of labelling or instructions on how to install it. When we’ve bought fabric seats from other online marketplaces in the past, they’ve also lacked any labels.
Janis James MBE, chief executive of Good Egg Safety, says: ‘We are deeply concerned about the rise in illegal child car seats being sold online - seats that do not meet the required R129 or R44 safety standards.
‘These products are promoted with glowing reviews, but they are nothing short of death traps.
‘This is a real and present danger. We urge everyone to buy only from reputable high street retailers and always look for the orange EU approval label.
‘No bargain is worth the life of a child. Please check before you buy.’
How to buy a safe child car seat
If you need to buy a baby or child car seat, follow these tips:
What the online retailers told us
eBay'We swiftly removed these listings and notified buyers, and we continue to strengthen our preventative measures.'
Shein'Shein vendors are required to comply with our code of conduct and stringent safety standards, and must also abide by the relevant laws and regulations of the markets where we operate. Shein has taken action against the seller of the product in question according to the penalties set out in our guidelines. The seller now also faces heightened scrutiny, undergoing additional checking for any and all products they have listed. Shein continues to invest in and improve our processes to strengthen product compliance.'
Little DreamsIt said it would be reviewing its current processes to strengthen checks before launching any new products, and ensure that all appropriate disclaimers are included on product descriptions.
WishManomano,Sue Davies, Which? head of consumer protection policy, said: 'It's appalling that these deadly car seats have reappeared on online marketplaces. The fact that it has been more than a decade since we first reported these tells us that online marketplaces won’t take responsibility for the products being sold through their platforms without tough new laws and enforcement.
'Children’s lives may be at risk, especially among disadvantaged households, until online marketplaces are forced to take responsibility for these cheap but deadly car seats.
'The Product Regulation and Metrology Act is a welcome start for fixing online marketplaces, but secondary regulations are needed to impose legal responsibilities on online marketplaces, with tough enforcement for those that fall short.'
undefinedsource https://www.which.co.uk/news/article/return-of-the-killer-car-seats-fabric-seats-spotted-at-checking-event-aZC7A2K3VtC0