Consumer Reports has identified a possible safety risk in a high-end infant “travel system” that combines features of an infant carrier, a stroller, and a car seat.
The product, the Orbit™ Infant System, was rated “Don’t Buy: Safety Risk” after the infant carrier detached from its car seat base in two of six simulated 30-mph frontal crash tests that Consumer Reports commissioned at an outside laboratory. We conducted the tests using the guidelines for speed and impact crash simulations dictated by the federal standard for child restraints.
Although the Orbit system, which retails for $900, is not among the overall leaders in terms of sales, it has carved out a niche in the market thanks in part to its popularity with A-list celebrities, some of whom offer testimonials on its Web site.
The system consists of an infant carrier that can be snapped into either a car seat base, for use in a vehicle, or a stroller base, for use when on foot. Thus, it offers convenience for parents who want to be able to lift their child out of a stroller into a car, or vice versa, with a minimum of hassle.
The Orbit was the only travel system in our tests to show any failures. The other two travel systems we tested, the Graco Stylus and Eddie Bauer Adventurer, stayed attached to their bases during the crash simulations.
Of the two failures in Consumer Reports’ tests, one occurred when the car seat base was attached using the Lower Anchors and Tethers for Children (LATCH) system that is featured on newer cars. The other failure occurred when the base was installed with the three-point (lap and shoulder) seat belt that is standard on modern cars. Six Orbit seats bought from retail merchants were tested. The other four passed our tests, and all findings were reviewed by an outside child-safety expert who has experience in child-restraint crash testing.
Consumer Reports shared its test results with Orbit Baby, and the company ran their own tests at the same laboratory and found no failures.
In a statement to Consumer Reports, Joseph Hei, chief executive officer of the Newark, Calif.-based company, says Orbit Baby has never received any report of a child being injured while in an Orbit baby seat. “We do not believe the test results obtained by Consumers Union are indicative of the safety of our Infant Car seats,” Hei wrote in an e-mailed statement. “Our car seats are used by children, including our own, and safety is our top priority. We strongly believe in the quality of our product.” (NOTE: We have just posted a blog detailing how we tested the Orbit Infant System. We wanted to provide you with additional information and address questions you might have after the manufacturer raised concerns about Consumer Reports’ test methodology.)
Consumer Reports says it decided to rate the seat “Don’t Buy: Safety Risk” so that parents, safety experts and regulators would be aware of the results and of the potential for injury if an Orbit seat were to fail in a real crash, as it did in our laboratory simulations.
“We think any failures are a matter of concern,” said Jennifer Stockburger, program manager of vehicle and child safety for Consumer Reports. “We rarely see failures in these tests, which we routinely perform on child seats.”
Consumer Reports advises that anyone who already owns an Orbit Infant System should strap the infant carrier directly, without the car seat base, into the back seat of a vehicle. Installed this way, the infant carrier passed our tests when it was secured using either a two-point (lap) belt or a three-point (lap and shoulder) belt. Obviously this makes the product somewhat less convenient to use. But used as a stroller, separate tests have showed the Orbit system to be perfectly safe.
Consumer Reports has also shared its findings with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, which regulates child car restraints, and requested that the agency conduct their own investigation. Orbit Baby’s Hei adds that his company “will work cooperatively with NHTSA on further recommendations they may have.” Hei says anyone with questions may call Orbit Baby at 877-672-2229 or send e-mail to support@orbitbaby.com.
When installing a car seat, if you’re having trouble getting it snugly in place, or if you want to check that you’ve done it correctly, you can go to a car seat installation checkpoint. To find the one nearest to you, go NHTSA’s Child Seat Safety Inspection Station Locator.
