What is the European regulation i Size?
Since July 2013 there has been the new European regulation i Size, which is intended to ensure the safety of children in the car. As a result, rear-facing driving is now mandatory for children up to 15 months.
What is the i Size rule?
I Size is the name of a new EU safety standard for child safety in cars, introduced in July 2013. The new regulation, also known as ECE R 129, currently applies in parallel with the existing regulation ECE R 44.
However, i Size has some serious differences and changes:
- iSize stipulates that children up to the age of 15 months must be transported rear-facing in the car, in a so-called reboarder
- Child seats approved for i-Size must have a side impact test to ensure additional safety
- Seats that have been tested for approval for sale from July 2014 must pass a rollover test in which the vehicle rotates one to one and a half times around its own axis
- The classification of the child seat is based on the age and height of the child and no longer on the weight, so that parents do not transport their child too early in a child seat from the next larger group
- iSize defines an obligation for ISOFIX systems . In this way, errors during assembly should be minimized
Why was i Size introduced?
Child seats have been compulsory in Germany for over 20 years. But again and again there are new findings regarding the safety of the child in the car. In order to be able to guarantee this safety at all times, new regulations and laws are constantly being introduced, which are optimized according to the latest findings. Even today, too many children die in car accidents or suffer serious injuries.
With the help of the new i-Size regulation, in particular, installation errors on the part of parents should be reduced. Due to the rear-facing transport, the child is better protected during the car journey. This is because the child’s immature spine, head and neck would be less damaged in an accident than in a forward-facing child seat. After the age of 15 months, it is up to the parents themselves whether they continue to transport their child backwards, as experts recommend, or whether they want to use a child seat that is to be mounted in the direction of travel. In any case, the i-Size standard is intended to make it easier for parents to find the right child seat for their child.
What does the new iSize rule mean for me?
The previous regulation ECE-R 44 will remain in place until around 2018. For you, this means that until then you will neither have to buy a new car that can offer i-Size seats nor a new child seat. However, it is important to know that if you decide to buy an i-Size child seat in the near future, it is good advice to take a look at your vehicle’s manual. Because child seats of the new regulation are a further development of the ISOFIX child seats and can therefore only be installed via an ISOFIX system. In any case, your vehicle must have ISOFIX anchorage points.