Attorneys general in seventeen states and the District of Columbia have reached out to the new Transportation Secretary, Pete Buttigieg, and the acting Administrator of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, Steven Cliff, regarding concerns with child car seat safety practices. In the letter, the attorneys general urge the federal government to impose what they call “common sense” recommendations. The letter calls on the NHTSA to put into place effective labeling standards for child car seats. The letter also largely focuses on federal regulators creating and implementing a side-impact crash test for children's car seats.

The letter urges the NHTSA to implement a 20-year-old congressional mandate that puts in place a standard for side-impact testing for children's car seats. The letter explains, “The failure to promulgate side-impact testing standards unnecessarily endangers children on the road and does a huge disservice to families.”

The letter stands in defense of parents and consumers and explains that having a regulatory standard in place will allow parents to make better decisions when it comes to purchasing a safe and appropriate car seat for their child. The letter argues the standard will be an added barrier to keep from suffering avoidable injuries.

The letter comes after an alarming CBS News and ProPublica report that shed light on car seats getting “passing” grades even though test dummies were thrown around violently during test crashes. The report also found that alarming advertisements for car seats resulted in children being placed in car seats that they were too young for. ProPublica highlights popular car seat maker Evenflo marketing a booster seat for children who were too young and did not meet the weight requirement. Currently, the consensus among experts along with the American Academy of Pediatrics recommends that children be at least 40 pounds before they transition over to a booster seat; however, the letter highlights that confusion among parents and weak regulation has allowed children under 40 lbs to transition into booster seats when they are not yet ready.

The letter sent to the NHTSA highlights that although car seats and boosters are the best forms of protection for infants and children, car crashes are the leading cause of death for kids 1-13 years of age.

The eye-opening by CBS News and ProPublica later paved the way for the House Oversight Committee to investigate child car seat safety. According to CBS News, the oversight committee found that inaccurate information about car seats and what types are appropriate for children of different ages “endangered the lives of millions of Americans.” The committee also expressed that parents were met with false and misleading information and that consumers were misled about the “safety of booster seats by failing to conduct appropriate side-impact testing, deceiving consumers with false and misleading statements.”

The lack of a federal standard for side-impact crash tests has given companies the ability to implement their own standards. And with varying standards that are largely unknown to the consumer because they differ from brand to brand, the attorneys general argue that this is dangerous to parents and innocent children. The letter sent to the NHTSA explains, “Parents heavily rely upon NHTSA's standards. Most consumers do not realize that the government does not regulate side-impact testing for child car seats. As a result, they may misplace their trust in manufacturers' claims … The failure to promulgate side-impact testing standards unnecessarily endangers children on the road and does a huge disservice to families."

As part of the call to create a federal standard for side-impact testing, the letter calls on the NHTSA to reflect the Delayed Transition Rule, the consensus by both manufacturers and experts that children stay rear-facing in their car seat until they reach the required height or weight.

The NHTSA has responded to the complaint and has shared that they intend to have a standard for side-impact crash tests in place by January 2022. They also expressed their aim to implement additional regulations that would encourage and make clear the use of the Delayed Transition Rule.

The NHTSA also shared in their statement, “A properly installed, age-and-size appropriate car seat is the best tool we have to protect children in a crash. NHTSA recently announced plans to finalize three important rules to improve car seat safety, installation, and testing.”