The benefits of footrests in restraint systems

In September, probably the foremost trade fair for childcare products in Europe was held in Cologne.

At the fair, new child restraint systems were presented that incorporate footrests for children ranging from 100 to 150 cm in height. These new devices will start arriving in stores in the coming months.

In this article we are going to analyze what improvements this solution incorporates to improve our criteria when choosing the best child restraint system for our children.

First of all, it should be noted that the concept of using a child restraint system with a footrest is not new, as these accessories have been available for many years as aftermarket products and, therefore, separate from the child restraint system itself. The innovation in this case is that these elements are incorporated as original parts of the child restraint system and, therefore, are included in its approval. This implies that all validation tests have been carried out with this element installed and correctly adjusted.

Adults always touch the floor of the passenger compartment. We do not pay much attention to this fact, but it helps us to stabilize ourselves in the event of sudden braking, makes us comfortable, since our legs and feet are not dangling, and in the event of a collision it also ensures that our pelvis is correctly positioned when the seat belt is fastened, reducing the risk of injury. We should remember that none of this is true if we rest our feet on the dashboard, a particularly dangerous thing to do while traveling in a car.

But what about children?

We can answer this question by talking about two different concepts: comfort and safety.

As far as comfort is concerned, the fact that the child’s feet are supported makes the seat much more comfortable than when the legs are dangling and, therefore, the child will be less tired during the journey. This is provided that the position of the footrest platform is appropriate, in other words, when the child’s femur is parallel to the seat of the child restraint system and the feet are resting lightly on the footrest, remaining completely flat.

For this it is vitally important for the footrest to be height-adjustable and suitable for the needs of the individual child. As a result, in terms of comfort, as long as the fit is correct, it is a good solution.

Moving on to safety, these elements have been tested together with the child restraint system, in the proper position and under new UN Regulation 129. The position of the legs on the footrest helps to control the child’s body position (in the shape of a “4”), so the use of these devices reduces the risk of the child being in the wrong position in the restraint system. To this we should add that Regulation 129 regulates the pressure that the abdomen can receive in the event of an accident, so approved CRSs that include a footrest are as safe as they can be for children.

The world of child restraint systems is always innovating to improve the safety of our children and it seems that footrests in child restraint systems can contribute a great deal to this constant improvement.