Parents are being warned to get rid of a popular car seat on the market after it failed a 'rigorous' crash safety test.
Consumer champion Which? has urged parents to seek a new car seat after they put the KinderKraft Comfort Up through a rigorous crash test, which it failed.
However, the car seat is currently still on the market and hasn't been recalled as passes the minimum legal regulations for R44 car seats, therefore it can still be legally sold.
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But Which? say their testing say their tests 'go further' and 'more accurately reflect what could happen in a real crash.'
Here's what they found during their crash test of the KinderKraft Comfort Up
"During Which? crash tests, our lab experts found that the car seat lacks adequate protection in the side wings, which meant that during the side-impact tests, the head of the crash test dummy hit the side of the test car.
"This dangerous issue only worsens when your child is big enough to use the Kinderkraft Comfort Up as a backless booster seat because there’s no side impact protection at all.
"What's more, during the front impact crash test when set up as group 2/3 seat (for children weighing 15kg or from around age four), the diagonal part of the vehicle seatbelt was very close to digging into the neck of the crash test dummy, which is caused by the poor belt routing of the seat.
"While the Kinderkraft Comfort Up car seat is approved to (ECE R44/04) regulations, our tests go further, making them more demanding than the British standard safety tests. However, we feel our tests more accurately reflect what could happen in a real crash."
In response to the findings, a spokesperson for Kinderkraft said: 'The test report states that the Kinderkraft Comfort Up will receive unfavourable side-impact safety ratings, which will likely affect the overall rating of this model by Which?
"According to regulation UN R44/04, the seat meets the current legal requirements, whilst Which? conducts more stringent tests than the current legal requirements for car seats. 'However, as a responsible manufacturer, we are working on introducing an equivalent model to the Comfort Up which also complies with the new approval regulation R129."
Which? has advised anyone who owns a KinderKraft Comfort Up to change it for a different car seat.
They said: "Because the Comfort Up passes the minimum legal regulations for R44 car seats, it can still be legally sold and there's no recall on the product. If you already own the Comfort Up, we'd suggest you look for a new car seat to replace it. Check out our reviews before purchasing so you know you're buying one that has passed our tests. Remember, you shouldn't stop using this car seat until you have a replacement. A car seat that scores poorly in our tests is still better than no car seat at all."
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