Isofix

Isofix is an international standard for attachment points for child safety seats in cars. The system is known as LATCH ("Lower Anchors and Tethers for Children") in the United States and LUAS ("Lower Universal Anchorage System") or Canfix in Canada. [cite web |url=http://www.car-safety.org/latch.html |title=Information on LATCH (Lower Anchors and Tethers for CHildren) |work=Car-Safety.Org |date=February 29, 2008 |accessdate=2008-07-06] It has also been called the "Universal Child Safety Seat System" or UCSSS.

Isofix is International Organisation for Standardisation standard ISO 13216, which specifies the anchoring system for Group 1 child safety seats. It defines standard attachment points to be manufactured into cars, enabling compliant child safety seats to be quickly and safely secured. Isofix is an alternative to securing the seat with seat belts. Seats are secured with a single attachment at the top (top tether) and two attachments at the base of each side of the seat. The full set of anchor points for this system were required in new cars in the United States starting in September 2002.

In Europe the system is known as Isofix and covers both Group 0/0+ and Group 1 child safety seats. There are also various installation categories: "universal", "vehicle-specific" and "semi-universal". The main difference being that "Universal" represents use of a top tether strap with the Isofix anchorage, "vehicle-specific" represents the usage of the Isofix anchorage without the TopTether in specified vehicles only, while "Semi-Universal" represents usage of the Isofix anchorage together with a "foot-prop". [http://www.britax-roemer.de/upload/download/typenliste/17/DUO%20plus%20Typenliste.pdf] [http://www.britax-roemer.de/upload/download/typenliste/13/SAFEFIX%20plus%20Typenliste.pdf]

For Group 2/3 seats there is a system called Isofit which anchors the seat to the vehicle so it cannot slide around when not in use. In the case of Isofit, the child is held into the seat using the vehicle's existing seat belt system, not the safety seat's straps.

References

External links

* [http://www.edmunds.com/ownership/howto/articles/104581/article.html Article and how-to video on LATCH and non-LATCH carseat installation]
* [http://www.iso.org/iso/en/prods-services/popstds/isofix.html Isofix and passenger safety systems in road vehicles]
* [http://www.theaa.com/motoring_advice/child_safety/safety_standards.html The AA: Child Safety]
* [http://www.keepkidshealthy.com/welcome/safety/car_seats_safety/latch.html Article on LATCH from KeepKidsHealthy.com]
* [http://www.car-safety.org/latch.html Article on LATCH stating alternative names]