This past Tuesday, NHTSA tested the Orbit Baby Infant Car Seat for compliance with all crash testing requirements of FMVSS 213. NHTSA confirmed that the Infant Car Seat passes these tests. Below is the email letter Orbit sent out to all registered Orbit Baby owners to inform them that our Infant Car Seat passed NHTSA's own testing.
Dear
Orbit Baby parent,
As I mentioned in my last letter to you in regards to the Consumer Reports testing of the Orbit Baby Infant Car Seat, we referred this matter to NHTSA, the government agency responsible for car seat safety. I am pleased to share the following information:
Update September 1, 2009: The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) tested the Orbit Baby Infant Car Seat for compliance with all crash testing requirements of Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard(FMVSS) 213. NHTSA confirmed that the Infant Car Seat passes these tests.
NHTSA also independently verified:
The middle shoulder harness slot is the appropriate slot for the size of the
official CRABI 12 test dummy.
The knob on the car seat Base should be turned to engage the StrongArm(tm)
tightening mechanism to achieve the regulated seat belt tension for compliance
testing.
Therefore, our Infant Car Seat not only passes our own tests in independent
labs, it also passes tests conducted by NHTSA, the government agency that
regulates traffic safety.
Orbit Baby maintains that Consumer Reports did not properly follow
the Infant Car Seat instructions when they conducted their tests. (Our
full response can be found here.) As an Orbit Baby parent, I believe
that this issue highlights the importance of following car seat instructions, as
well as the need for parents to educate grandparents, babysitters, and other
caregivers on proper car seat usage.
Please
be sure to take advantage of these helpful resources on our website:
- View
Car Seat installation videos
- Read
the Orbit Baby article on "The Correct Harness Position for Rear-Facing
Car Seats"
- Download
Orbit Baby product manuals
- Orbit
Baby's position on car seat safety can always be found here
- Email
us with any further questions at support@orbitbaby.com
Thank
you for your support of Orbit Baby.
Sincerely,
Joseph
Hei
CEO
and Co-founder of Orbit Baby