3 ms·

Let's not forget the expiration dates on Car Safety Seats. C'mon, really? Seats with Styrofoam may deteriorate eventually but I haven't heard of a casualties du

by 1-6 6y ago

Let's not forget the expiration dates on Car Safety Seats. C'mon, really? Seats with Styrofoam may deteriorate eventually but I haven't heard of a casualties due to expired car seats.

paulryanrogers 6y ago
This is part of the plan to force people to buy new. They make it illegal to sell any kids stuff older than a year or two.
flubert 6y ago
All the car seats for my kids were chiefly composed of plastics. I'm sure there is quite a high factor of safety for car seat design, but there are quite a few time and temperature related failure modes for plastics (i.e. getting brittle over time as the plasticizers outgas, UV exposure, etc.). https://www.sintef.no/globalassets/project/ffs/dokumenter/seminar-juni2010/rapra-ffs-2010.pdf/ https://www.sintef.no/globalassets/project/ffs/dokumenter/se... https://www.amazon.com/Plastics-Failure-Guide-2E-Prevention/dp/1569904499 https://www.amazon.com/Plastics-Failure-Guide-2E-Prevention/...
bigmattystyles 6y ago
To be fair, how do you test this - as a system - effectively. The consequences of failure on a child seat are not like, say, a stand mixer. That being said, I suspect it has more to do with the manufacturer attempting to limit their liability window. It's wasteful right, but in a litigious world, I get it.
- lastofus 6y ago
  Start crash testing expired seats and compare results to new ones of the same make/model. They expire relatively quickly, so they would not be difficult to find. For example, our Graco Keyfit 30 expires after 6 years.
  - bigmattystyles 6y ago
    I think you’d have to mandate it legislatively though. There are no incentives for seat manufacturers to do this of their own volition. The quick expiration works in their favor on every front...
  - lotsofpulp 6y ago
    Chicco Keyfit 30
kube-system 6y ago
Some tests have found that brand new seats break when loaded near their stated limits. I think it is reasonable to say that plastic weakened due to the relatively harsh thermal and UV conditions in a car would fare worse. https://www.consumerreports.org/toddler-booster-seats/child-car-seats-from-britax-cosco-graco-harmony-break-in-consumer-reports-tests/ https://www.consumerreports.org/toddler-booster-seats/child-...
- ClumsyPilot 6y ago
  I don't think a seat will get any UV exposure in a car, UV does not pass through glass
  - kube-system 6y ago
    Glass blocks most, but not all UV [0]. And people open their windows sometimes. [0]: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/12925188/ https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/12925188/
hansvm 6y ago
Not quite the same thing (adult seats vs car seats, and it's possible they were just faulty from the factory rather than expired), but the last time I was rear-ended the seats snapped behind me. Quite the experience really -- to stop you from going forward you have seat belts, air bags, and all kinds of fancy engineering. Inertia is a cruel mistress when the car moves forward out from under you though, and the only things ensuring your forward motion are a couple of broken seats (thankfully there weren't any passengers or children in car seats for me to smash into) and the 2-ton metal projectile poking through the ass end of your car.
ldiracdelta 6y ago
Regulatory Capture https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Regulatory_capture https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Regulatory_capture It isn't the exception; it is the rule. Bodies that govern an industry are _inevitably_ captured by the industry they govern, because that industry has the absolute highest incentive to write the rules it has to follow.

by 1-6 6y ago

Let's not forget the expiration dates on Car Safety Seats. C'mon, really? Seats with Styrofoam may deteriorate eventually but I haven't heard of a casualties due to expired car seats.

paulryanrogers 6y ago

This is part of the plan to force people to buy new. They make it illegal to sell any kids stuff older than a year or two.

flubert 6y ago

All the car seats for my kids were chiefly composed of plastics. I'm sure there is quite a high factor of safety for car seat design, but there are quite a few time and temperature related failure modes for plastics (i.e. getting brittle over time as the plasticizers outgas, UV exposure, etc.). https://www.sintef.no/globalassets/project/ffs/dokumenter/seminar-juni2010/rapra-ffs-2010.pdf/ https://www.sintef.no/globalassets/project/ffs/dokumenter/se... https://www.amazon.com/Plastics-Failure-Guide-2E-Prevention/dp/1569904499 https://www.amazon.com/Plastics-Failure-Guide-2E-Prevention/...

bigmattystyles 6y ago

To be fair, how do you test this - as a system - effectively. The consequences of failure on a child seat are not like, say, a stand mixer. That being said, I suspect it has more to do with the manufacturer attempting to limit their liability window. It's wasteful right, but in a litigious world, I get it.

lastofus 6y ago
Start crash testing expired seats and compare results to new ones of the same make/model. They expire relatively quickly, so they would not be difficult to find. For example, our Graco Keyfit 30 expires after 6 years.
- bigmattystyles 6y ago
  I think you’d have to mandate it legislatively though. There are no incentives for seat manufacturers to do this of their own volition. The quick expiration works in their favor on every front...
- lotsofpulp 6y ago
  Chicco Keyfit 30

kube-system 6y ago

Some tests have found that brand new seats break when loaded near their stated limits. I think it is reasonable to say that plastic weakened due to the relatively harsh thermal and UV conditions in a car would fare worse. https://www.consumerreports.org/toddler-booster-seats/child-car-seats-from-britax-cosco-graco-harmony-break-in-consumer-reports-tests/ https://www.consumerreports.org/toddler-booster-seats/child-...

ClumsyPilot 6y ago
I don't think a seat will get any UV exposure in a car, UV does not pass through glass
- kube-system 6y ago
  Glass blocks most, but not all UV [0]. And people open their windows sometimes. [0]: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/12925188/ https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/12925188/

hansvm 6y ago

Not quite the same thing (adult seats vs car seats, and it's possible they were just faulty from the factory rather than expired), but the last time I was rear-ended the seats snapped behind me. Quite the experience really -- to stop you from going forward you have seat belts, air bags, and all kinds of fancy engineering. Inertia is a cruel mistress when the car moves forward out from under you though, and the only things ensuring your forward motion are a couple of broken seats (thankfully there weren't any passengers or children in car seats for me to smash into) and the 2-ton metal projectile poking through the ass end of your car.

ldiracdelta 6y ago

Regulatory Capture https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Regulatory_capture https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Regulatory_capture It isn't the exception; it is the rule. Bodies that govern an industry are _inevitably_ captured by the industry they govern, because that industry has the absolute highest incentive to write the rules it has to follow.