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