ISOFIX child seats fnally legal... (in 2013)

[T99]

There is no reason why you couldn't use the isofix tags, plus the seatbelt if you felt the need to keep the cops/insurance companies happy. I bought Latch for mine (which are Recaro) and it uses the top tether rather than an extra leg. So when looked at from the outside, it looks no different.

[MickyD]

how the fuck does it take another 12 months to write the regulations? Haven't they heard of copy and paste? Heaps of other ADR's are basically clones of the EC equivalents.

[Reax]

Pretty sad actually. Purchased an MY04 Liberty wagon at the end of 03 as we just had our first child. It has ISOFIX and I chased everywhere to try and get a seat as it is a hell of a lot better system than the seatbelt one. The only option was to import them from OS. Ended up going normal child seats as it was illegal to have them fitted to the car. Fucking BS back water Australian legislation.

[Boxer]

There is no reason why you couldn't use the isofix tags, plus the seatbelt if you felt the need to keep the cops/insurance companies happy. I bought Latch for mine (which are Recaro) and it uses the top tether rather than an extra leg. So when looked at from the outside, it looks no different.

The legality/insurance issue is not based around whether you are using the seatbelt as the kiddieseat restraint or not. Its the fact the ISOFIX models dont have australian standard certification (at least I am not aware of any ISOFIX seats that also have australian standard cert to be seatbelt fitted)

I agree its far safer, but for insurance claims the onus will be on you

[St00ge]

The legality/insurance issue is not based around whether you are using the seatbelt as the kiddieseat restraint or not. Its the fact the ISOFIX models dont have australian standard certification (at least I am not aware of any ISOFIX seats that also have australian standard cert to be seatbelt fitted)

I agree its far safer, but for insurance claims the onus will be on you

safer as in better or safer as in less chance of incorrect installation causing injury?

Because from the stuff I have read they are not claiming isofix is some great leap in safety..

[Boxer]

Mainly due to incorrect install, but also suitability of some seatbelts and current kid seats (read my post further back).

isofix makes for a much simpler, faster and secure fixing

[MRMOPARMAN]

I was looking in brand spanker volvo xc's today and i couldnt find the isofix points.. Do they fold out or something? Or sit under the seat out of the way?

[smellytofu]

Lateral support is better than the current system but yes, in terms of forward and rear protection, they aren't claiming a safety improvement.

Stick your fingers between the seat base and the backrest. You should feel the 2 mounts in a Volvo.

[MRMOPARMAN]

thread bump...

so i emailed britex about getting some isofix adapters? or trade seat on isofix version of my newly purchased meridian AHR.. got this response from customer service:

Good-Afternoon Cameron,



Thank you for your email, I will attached a press release we have released in regards to ISO fix and Britax Childcare, currently Cameron I would certainly suggest that you continue to keep your Meridian Car seat that you had purchased.

ISO fix is more to do with the insulation(easy to install) of a car seat, not the safety of a car seat, ISO fix is not approved in Australia, we appreciate that there are ISO FIX car seats in other countries, but these do not meet the Australian Safety Standards and should not be used in Australia, I am quite confident there become legal issues if they are used.



Best of luck on the pending birth of your baby.



Please find attached the press release and I hope this clarifies things for you.

so cliffs:

ISOFIX seats arent legal to use in australia yet
govco is changing laws so ISOFIX is mandatory on all new cars built from the end of the year
after that then they will look at legalising ISOFIX seat usage.

[Covert]

thread bump...

so i emailed britex about getting some isofix adapters? or trade seat on isofix version of my newly purchased meridian AHR.. got this response from customer service:



so cliffs:

ISOFIX seats arent legal to use in australia yet
govco is changing laws so ISOFIX is mandatory on all new cars built from the end of the year
after that then they will look at legalising ISOFIX seat usage.

I hope your baby seat was easy to insulate into the car.

Don't people read their emails before they hit send?

[Boxer]

What a surprise Britax suggest you keep using your inferior Safe N Sound purchase......until such time its legislated....then we will be BIG advocates and market the bejeezus out of it.

Aust standards shit me, seatbelt attachments suck and are too easily cocked up by unwitting parents installing them, they are tedious and slow and each car is different in seat belt operation. ISOFIX FTW.

[MRMOPARMAN]

yeah im kinda pissed about it actually. we just bought a newish car for the missus that actually has ISOFIX (09 I30 diesel wagon).

both the inlaws cars are always newish so they will have it, my oldies cars are older and dont have it, and all my currently registered cars cant have baby seats in them i dont think.

ill just have to teach myself and both sets of parents how to use the tether/seatbelt ways properly.

[Boxer]

Yes thats the main problem, and its and its very easy to cock it up - passing the seatblet through the child seat - I've seen plenty of parents pass it over the back of the harness straps and not behind them.

Also as mentioned above - I had always used the Liberty for my SnS seats and the Liberty had locking seatbelts, when I installed them into the Commodore I noticed there is no auto lock and I was supposed to use these things (silly me for not re-referencing the instructions when swapping vehicles)



The Liberty did still have one annoying trait though - being a wagon Subaru decided a smart place to locate the top-tether anchors would be in the roof. Great - nothing like looking at seatbelts in your rear view mirror and obstructing the rearward view.:knock:

No top tethers with ISOfix either

I should get off my soapbox - its been 5 yrs now since I researched them and its too late for my kids as they are too heavy for ISOfix now

[redbucket]

Our kid will be too big for the capsule in a few months (currently 6kg, capsule rated to 9kg). Before she outgrows it, I'm seriously considering importing a seat from EU/US. Not just for ISOfix, but for extended rear-facing capabilities. It's a joke that the longest ones on the market only rear-face til 12kg, when it's clear that it's fuckloads safer to rear-face as long as possible.

[rowdytoot]

SAIglobal to whom the liberal government sold the rights to develop and maintain Australian Standards require you throw significant $$$ at them if you want anything done, and unless you've got $$ and can overcome the current parties on the committees who have vested interests you have sod all hope of getting a standard updated to the appropriate ISO one.

For this reason, at work we've moved away from referencing AS in publications and legislation- and where we can, to directly reference the ISO standard, or find a way to reproduce the content of the AS directly in our publications... :p

yes it should be a simple matter of copy and pasting the EU/ISO standard and rescinding the current AS, but there is no money in that, and vested interests don't want it cos then they'd have to redesign their Aus market only seats.

I'm about to embark what should be an ISO copy paste job with SAIglobal as they haven't updated the AS from a 20 + year old version of the equiv ISO standard- I'm allowing 2 -3 years and I work for the government... do they care- no...

Moparman- we've got a brand new AHR as well... even properly installed it's no where near as laterally stable as I feel comfortable with- both our cars have ISOfix- and I'd be far happier to have an ISOfix seat- fuck the 'law' ISOfix is clearly a better system -which is why they didn't adopt our wonderful AS (ISO have adopted a couple of AS notably the risk management one... :p

The way regulatory authorities are slavish to AS is retarded, and again comes down to vested (local ) interests- my old man has a ECE certified push bike helmet- identical in every way to the AS one from the same brand here- - except the sticker - he bought it while he was cycling in Europe- can he legally use it here?- no...does he- yes.

Realistically if you had an acco and your child was in an ISOfix seat and was injured- they'd have to demonstrate that the use of the ISOfix seat was the cause of the injuries, and an AS seat would have been better, when denying any claim or charging you. I can't see it happening, simply cos I can't see that an ISOfix seat isn't better than an AS seat in terms of being secured to the car..