The child seat seal of approval: that tells you
The test seal, which can be found in bright orange on the child car seat, is decisive for the right choice of child seat. But what is actually behind the numbers and letters? We give you the perspective.
Why a child seat seal of approval?
When buying a child seat for the car, parents should always pay close attention to the orange test seal on the side of the child seat, because the seat has to be officially approved. This requirement is met if the seat is built according to the provisions of a specific test standard, the so-called ECE regulation 44. This regulation describes an agreement on international conditions for the approval of child seats for children in vehicles. Since it is very important that the test number is up-to-date for the admissibility of the child seat, parents should study the test seal very carefully.
What does the seal of approval tell you?
The seal of approval gives you a lot of information about the important facts about the child seat
- According to ADAC , the current, complete test standard is : ECE-R 44 or ECE R44/04. Parallel to this, there has been ECE R 129 since 2014, the so-called i Size regulation .
- You will find out whether the seat can be used “universally” or “vehicle-specific”. The test seal also states which weight class the seat is suitable for (e.g. 9 to 18 kg).
- The circle in which there is an E (for Europe) and a number tells you the following: The number stands for the country in which the seat was checked: e.g. “1” for Germany, “2” for France and ” 4″ for the Netherlands.
- The test number is the most important number for you: the first two digits tell you what kind of test standard has been met and how up-to-date it is. For example, “04” for the most recent test standard suffix or “03” for the 1995 test standard. For this reason, seats with the number “44/01” or “44/02” on the test seal are obsolete as of April 2008 and may no longer be used. Child seats with the test standard “44/00” have been obsolete for some time and are no longer approved.
- In some cases, the manufacturer is also noted on the test seal.