Bit of a rant and link to a story showing Australia is way behind in keeping our kids safe in the car.

I just watched this report on Australian car seat safety versus European car seat safety. I am not usually a fan of Today Tonight, but I thought this was good at getting the ERF message out in the mainstream media. It really didn't focus as much as I would like on ERF, more focus was put on ISOFIX, but it did touch on it and overall it shows how we are backward here Down Under when it comes to keeping our kids safe in cars, even though we boast about such stringent standards for child restraints. The Swedes should be the ones boasting with only 5 deaths in about 40 years!
I'm willing to bet that the introduction of ISOFIX here would also bring about extended rear-facing too.
You really have to wonder what, how much politics, and more likely, $$$ in the car seat manufacturing world are playing a big part in not wanting things to change here.

With all the facts, and, the laws of physics, (which I always thought were the same worldwide, but please correct me if I'm wrong!) and lowest death and injury rates where rear-facing is practised for the longest, Australia still thinks we're doing ok, WTF! With excuses like, 'Vehicles and driving styles are different so you can't compare statistics.' Load of crap there! In an accident if you're rear-facing you are safer, doesn't have much to do with your driving style, seriously *roll eyes*  'We have top tethers and anti-rebound bars so our seats are superior.' So manufacture a rear-facing seat catering for kids up to 4 years with a top tether and ARB to meet Australian standards, duh! I even read somewhere parental misuse is the big factor in deaths and severe injuries in Australia. Well that may be a contributor, so here's a thought, ISOFIX would greatly cut down cases of misuse because it makes installation so easy! And hey, how about better education? Now there's a thought. Stop telling parents, and legislating things like, it's ok to forward-face your baby from 6 months, and maybe they won't.
What am I missing here? It all seems like pretty simple logic to me.

*Rant over*

Anyway it's worth a look :)
http://www.cadoges.com/auto-quotes/2010/10/17/safe-child-restraint-in-modern-cars-australia-v-europe.html

Volvo's Lotta Jakobsson says Australian laws allow children to face forwards far too early

It's here, but does the angle adjuster really have magical abilities...

Very excited to receive the angle adjuster!!  There was no one else home and I was so keen to try it out I took The Monstar out to the car with me while I played with it. That was fun with him jumping in and out of the back seat and trying to get in the seat while I was installing it :)

But it was very exciting, it gave a good couple of extra inches so I even tried to install the seat in the middle, and....it is possible! No way anyone taller than me could actually drive the car, but the drivers seat goes back to my driving position. So there are some advantages to being 5'2. Very happy with being able to have The Monstar in the middle, rear-facing still and in the middle even safer again.

Bugger it! The excitement was short lived when I jumped in the car to go to the shop a couple of hours later.  I worked out that the angle adjuster gives a great upright angle for more room back to front but also adds height. So now with the seat in the middle, I can't actually see out the back of the car, using the rear view mirror or turning to look directly out.  So way too dangerous for reversing and just general driving I'd have no idea what was going on behind me. Back to the disadvantage of by being 5'2, and back to the passenger side goes the seat :(

Before the angle adjuster.

After the angle adjuster, you can really notice the height difference at the head rest.

The adjuster has allowed better leg room for the passenger, but sill not great in my little Getz. Anyone besides me, needs to concentrate on keeping their knees off the glove box area, which is where the air bag comes out in an accident. As pretty much all other regular passengers are taller than me, it's still not really practical or safe.

I am seriously considering a booster seat for me. Even now with the seat back on the passenger side, the extra height makes it so I have huge blind spot out that side of the car. I really have to turn and stretch up as far as I can to do a head check on that side.
I put a friends backless booster in and the difference in visibility was enormous. The placement of my seat belt was also much improved. The booster was a bit on the narrow side, so where the edges rise up they dug into my bum cheeks and hips a bit, so not comfy enough to drive with. I am thinking a piece of dense foam cut to size might work.

 Or it could be time for a new, bigger car...

The hunt for the angle adjuster.

Now that the angle adjuster has been released I am very keen to try one. I've checked out where they are being sold and started trying to order one. I say trying because again it's turning into an ordeal *sigh*
Ok let's look at this as a challenge rather than an ordeal! Maybe that will keep my stress levels to a minimum.
So Amazon won't ship here. Not that they have them in stock you have to pre-order, but seriously Amazon. This is definitely the last time I will attempt to buy anything from you. I was told years ago how fantastic Amazon was, you get anything you want from them pffft! Every single time I've wanted to order from them they won't ship here. Usually they have the excuse it's too heavy. Well the angle adjuster weighs next to nothing so that can't be it this time.
Seem to be getting the same response from most suppliers in the US. They just don't want my business.
Apparently Diono are selling them direct from their website so that's the next stop. Oh why am I not surprised they've only been released in the US so far, and even Diono won't sell me one. Alright ,I'll cruise around the carseat.org forum and see where everyone's getting theirs from, maybe I can find one retailer that will ship to me here.
Whoa is that a pic of someone in NZ with adjuster? Yes! Omg where did they get it??? I sent them a personal message to see if they'd tell me. Or if they were guarding the secret with their life, because I thought they hadn't been released in NZ yet. But if they found a retailer in the US to ship to NZ then surely they'd ship here.
The nice poster on the forum tells me they contacted Diono NZ direct so I'm off to try that. When you go to the Diono website and try to order from there, they automatically put it through to the US site because They aren't available in NZ yet, but the US won't ship here. So here's hoping If I contact them directly via email I might get somewhere.

Woohoo!! They are going to send me an angle adjuster. I didn't know if it would work for me or against me, but I told them my story of being an Australian parent importing their car seat so I can ERF longer, and that no one in the US would ship one here. Now it's on it's way!!! YAY!!
Can you tell I'm a little excited? hehe They had some available in NZ for techs, for training and demonstration purposes and were able to find a spare :)

We need another seat, a Radian? Or something else?

So seeing as the grandparent's expired car seat has been retired, we need to replace it. So I thought we'd just go another Radian, but, now I'm not so sure. Not because we don't still love the Radian, but the lack of room is now an issue for the grandparents too as they bought a new car.  A Honda, a much smaller car than the Ford Falcon they had before where the Radian would have been no problem at all.

A few things have happened since the seat was retired too. Sunshine Kids Juvenile Products, the manufacturers have changed their name. They are now Diono. The XTSL models are now old news, and the new range of RXTs have been released. They are still the same seat just with some changes. One of which is they can now be used as a booster with the seat belt when your little one has out grown the harness. They also have a longer seat bottom with expandable sides, so if your little Monstar has a chubby butt you can widen the seat :) Another is a new range of colours. Now I know this is no way to select a car seat, but they have a cover called plum, it's a gorgeous purple!! :) But I have controlled myself and not jumped straight in and placed my order for a plum XRT :P But I so want one!!


The other HUGE news is the release of the looooong awaited angle adjuster!  Yes, this is the magical piece we have all been waiting for.  It is said to give you at least four more inches between the top of the seat and the front passenger seat!!

I was eyeing off a Graco Duo Logic or Britax HiWay2 before the announcement of the angle adjuster.   Both seats are supposed to be great for small cars the DuoLogic even lists the Getz as a car it will install in, in both outboard and centre seats.

I would love to get him in the centre seat!

So these are my 2 new things to investigate...

Isn't it beautiful!♥

The magical angle adjuster not much to look at really :)

I really hate when people say...

"But I'm a good driver." It really shits me! Yes you might be a fantastic driver, but, you're not the only one on the road and you have no control over what others on the road do. Seriously, how many people do you think get up in the morning and think "I'm such a crap driver I'm sure I'll have an accident today."? I'm guessing nowhere near as many as the ones that say they're good drivers, which they probably are but that doesn't guarantee you some kind of magic pass to never be in an accident.

Take my friend's daughter and her family last weekend coming home from a weekend at the coast. Doing all the right things. It was wet so they were crawling back up the mountain, a steep winding road with no room for error especially when it's wet! When a woman coming the other way lost control of her car, came across to the wrong side of the road and hit them head on. There was nothing they could do, if they'd swerved one way they could've been off the side of the mountain, or the other way into another car. So they just had to wait for the impact. All were ok, thank god!  But he was (is) a good driver and was doing all the right things, and ended up in a serious accident, not his fault.

 The car was a complete write off. Mum and Dad in the front were ok, completely freaked out, but ok. Dad, who was driving had sore arms and hands, from holding the steering wheel on impact and the airbag going off. They had an adult rear passenger who ended up the worst of all. Head and facial injuries from hitting the back of the front seat (no airbags in the back) neck and back pain, as well as suspected dislocated hips. The hips would have most likely popped out and popped back in again, pressure from where the seat belt was holding them in across the hips I'm guessing.
And yes they had their beautiful little baby in the back also, rear-facing and she came out the absolute best of all of them! Imagine if the baby was in a forward-facing seat, I doubt she would have come out so well judging by the forward-facing adult passenger!

So next time you think you might skip your seat belt, or pop the littlie in their big brother's booster, because it's a quick trip and "you're a good driver" think again!! The accident may not be your fault, but the result of you, or your kids being seriously injured or killed might be, if you or they are not properly restrained.

And just a final YAY for rear-facing!!!!! It kept that precious bubba safe :)