| ■ Magazine Retracts Negative Review of Infant Car Seats | 07.01.22 |
| Consumer Reports has retracted this month's blistering review of infant car seats, which included an assertion that most of the seats "failed disastrously" in crash safety tests, the Associated Press reported Thursday. The original report, published Jan. 4, said the magazine had tested the seats at speeds as low as 35 mph. But the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said the tests "were conducted under conditions that would represent being struck at more than 70 mph," the A.P. reported. The wire service quoted NHTSA Administrator Nicole Nason as saying that more than 100 worried parents had contacted the agency on the day the report was released. "Consumer Reports was right to withdraw its infant car seat test report and I appreciate that they have taken this corrective action," Nason said. "I was troubled by the report because it frightened parents and could have discouraged them from using car seats." In a statement, the magazine said it would retest the seats and publish a new evaluation as soon as possible, the AP reported. Consumer Reports tested the type of seat that faces the rear and snaps into a base. Only two of the 12 seats tested were recommended, and the magazine advised that one of the seats -- the Evenflo Discovery -- be recalled nationally. Evenflo immediately disputed the magazine's findings. Consumer Reports, however, said it was sticking by its original claim that the Evenflo product should be recalled, the AP reported. |