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BeSafe Safety Event 2025: Experts united for child safety in traffic
In June 2025, BeSafe organized the BeSafe Safety Event in Oslo – a unique day-long event with only one goal – to ensure that every child in traffic is safe .
BeSafe brought together leading experts and lecturers from the Swedish VTI, the German ADAC, the Norwegian Trygg Trafikka, the University of Berlin, the Romanian Child Safety Foundation , as well as experts from BeSafe itself and partner engineers conducting virtual testing. Each speaker presented an extremely important topic, and the focus of the entire event was on education, innovation and raising awareness of real challenges in everyday traffic practice. In order to spread this important knowledge, the event was attended by 150 participants involved in safety promotion and parent advice from all over Europe. We bring you what was discussed below.
70% of parents use car seats incorrectly – and believe they are doing everything right
One of the focuses of the event was on misuse of car seats. This was exactly the topic of the lecturer Gerd Muller from the Technical University of Berlin.
Misuse includes everything from a slightly twisted belt to more serious errors such as unfastened buckles. Statistics from Germany show that the proportion of incorrect use, although decreasing, remains high. According to the latest research from 2018, it is 48%, which is a positive trend compared to the period between 1997 and 2008, when around 60% of car seats were used incorrectly.
When analyzing the condition, not only the number of errors is counted, but also their severity – there are serious, moderate and minor errors. For example, a twisted seat belt is considered a minor error, while an unfastened buckle is a serious error.
Accordingly, engineers from the University of Berlin conducted a field study in front of schools and kindergartens. The experts photographed children while they were still sitting in their car seats, before their parents took them out of the vehicle. The analysis revealed that a large number of children use inappropriate seats for age or height, and that seats are often incorrectly installed and children are incorrectly restrained. The results showed that 70% of parents whose children were incorrectly restrained believed that they were doing everything correctly.
The most common errors and their causes
Errors can generally be divided into three main categories:
Car seat installation: Incorrectly seat belt installation through the seat belt slots or not tightening it enough. It is especially dangerous to install a car seat in the passenger seat without deactivating the airbag. The study confirmed that there were significantly fewer errors with seats with the ISOFIX system, indicating that correct installation using the car seat belt is the biggest challenge for parents.
Strapping a child: A common mistake is for a child to put their arm through the belt, so it sits under their armpit instead of over their shoulder. Safety is also compromised by thick winter jackets that create a false sense of tightness in the belt, as well as adding pillows or blankets for comfort.
Choosing the right seat: Parents often move their children too early to the next category of car seat (e.g. a booster) for which they are not yet heavy or tall enough. They also turn the car seat forward-facing too early, even though rear-facing is proven to be 5x safer.
Why do mistakes happen?
The reasons are not solely technical. Research has shown that the correctness of use is also influenced by external factors and the psychological state of the parents . Causes include unconscious negligence, lack of knowledge, time pressure, but also factors such as:
Purpose and duration of the trip: In general, the shorter the trip, the higher the likelihood of incorrect use. The lowest percentage of errors was recorded on the way to vacation, while the highest was on the return from vacation (almost 70%), probably due to fatigue and relaxation.
Weather conditions: Rainy days record the highest percentage of incorrect use (over 65%), probably due to rushing. Conversely, during frosty weather, parents are more cautious and the percentage of correct use rises to almost 70%.
This data clearly shows that children’s safety is not only affected by technical knowledge, but also by our emotional state, stress and the circumstances we find ourselves in. The fact that most parents are not aware of their mistakes calls for constant education and, most importantly, regular and careful checks before each ride.
Source: Misuse – 20 years of learning , Gerd Müller – Technical University of Berlin, Germany
Parents give up on car seats too early – perceived discomfort is the main reason
The event also featured a lecture by a Romanian safety activist that addressed the reasons why parents of children over the age of 4 stop using car seats. According to the research, the main reason is the perception of parents that the car seat is uncomfortable for the child. This is followed by high product prices, the belief that children are “too big” for the seat, and social pressure.
Source: Increasing misuse – triggers and interventions , Alice Dona-Mitu, Children Car Safety Foundation, Romania
ADAC tests as an important indicator of car seat safety
ADAC representative Andreas Ratzek explained to the participants how ADAC testing works, what aspects of safety, comfort and practicality it covers, and why parents are increasingly looking for seats with a good ADAC rating .
Specific examples of common mistakes when installing car seats are also included, such as incorrect inclination, loosely tightened belts or incorrectly installed ISOfix connectors, which can greatly reduce efficiency and safety. Read more about ADAC here.
Source: European consumer testing program and the effects on Child Safety , Andreas Ratzek – ADAC, Germany
The world’s toughest crash test
Alongside the ADAC, the Plus test, the world’s strictest crash test for car seats, was also presented. A lecturer from VTI, the Swedish Transport Institute, which conducts the Plus test, explained what exactly the Plus test measures and why it is considered the strictest – especially due to the extremely demanding criteria for protecting a child’s head and neck in frontal collisions.
The Plus Test only tests rear-facing car seats, as they are the safest option for children and are the only ones that can meet the test criteria . In the past, forward-facing car seats were also tested, but none passed the test. The first car seat to pass the Plus Test was the BeSafe iZi Kid X2, and today there are 11 BeSafe seats on the list. A list of all car seats that have passed this rigorous testing can be found here.
An expansion of the testing has also been announced: in the future, the Plus test will also include car seats for newborns , not just for older children. This initiative represents the introduction of even higher safety standards from the very first day of car seat use , further raising the bar in the traffic safety industry. Read more about the Plus test here.
Source: How Extended Rear Facing makes a difference , Emily Udman – VTI, Sweden
Revolutionary virtual testing: comparison of the rear-facing and forward- facing in Beyond 360 and comparison of Beyond 360 with booster
The final lecture presented a major innovation in car seat testing: virtual testing and human body model dummies that accurately depict how the body reacts to a crash, including movements of the neck, head, chest, and brain.
Unlike traditional dummies that only measure external forces, virtual “dummies” provide insight into the actual internal injuries that occur during a crash, including brain rotation and chest loading.
Special attention was paid to comparing rear-facing and forward-facing direction in the BeSafe Beyond 360. It has long been known that rear-facing is 5x safer than forward-facing for younger children, but BeSafe wanted to determine the benefits of rear-facing for older children (Extended Rear Facing) and in this test BeSafe used a virtual model of a 6-year-old child. The comparison showed that a rear-facing car seat better absorbs and distributes the forces on the child’s body (including the neck and head) during a frontal collision and that using rear-facing significantly reduces the risk of serious injuries.
Comparisons show the following benefits of rear-facing driving for a 6-year-old:
🠪 up to 4 times less neck forces and up to 3,5 times less neck elongation
🠪 up to 5 times less rotational velocity of the brain, which means a lower risk of head injuries
🠪 significant less stress on rib cage
🠪 pressure on the right places on abdomen
BeSafe Beyond 360 allows rear-facing facing travel up to 125 cm, or until the end of the car seat’s life. It has an extendable ISOfix base, creating extra legroom and providing maximum comfort in rearward facing travel. It is therefore recommended that Beyond, like any other rear-facing car seat, is always used rearward facing until the maximum approved weight and/or height is reached .
Given that many parents are in a hurry to move to a larger car seat, BeSafe and Phitec wanted to compare 2 ways of securing older children who are placed forward-facing , or to see whether the 5-point harness has advantages over the car’s seat belt.
They compared the BeSafe Beyond 360 car seat in a forward-facing position and a generic booster seat with a backrest. The results of the virtual testing with test modules of a 6-year-old child showed that the BeSafe Beyond 360 car seat, which has its own 5-point harness, is safer when facing forward than a booster seat in which the child is fastened with the car seat belt.
Compared to the average booster, in the Beyond 360 seat:
• Neck forces were up to 20% less
• There is less stress on the chest , without concentration of force on one point
• Rotational velocity of the brain is smaller and affect a smaller area
• The 5-point harness keeps the child in a correct, upright position and prevents them from sliding forward , reducing the risk of injuries to the abdominal and pelvic areas.
• There is less neck strain
This research is useful information for parents, but the recommendation to use the rear-facing car seat as long as possible is still valid because it is 5x safer.
If parents decide to move an older child to face the direction of travel, the safest option is to use the BeSafe Beyond 360 with its own 5-point harness for as long as possible and only then use booster with a backrest in which the child is secured with the car belt.
Source: Revolutionary virtual testing with Human Body Model , Okke van Mourik – BeSafe and Daniele Spetziani – Phitec, Italy
Norway’s vision: zero traffic fatalities by 2050.
The Norwegian National Road Safety Council has set its vision: zero deaths and serious injuries in traffic by 2050 . Through national traffic and safety plans, Norway is actively defining specific goals – including increasing the number of children riding rear-facing in cars and improving the correct placement of children in car seats.
The lecturer also addressed the often-stated claim that things used to be better in the context of child safety in traffic when car seats were not used. She refuted this misconception by presenting a simple but clear graph comparing the number of vehicles in traffic with the number of child fatalities. Norwegian data clearly shows that despite the significant increase in the number of cars, child safety is significantly higher today than in the past.
The results of their initiatives are already visible, and interest and engagement in child safety is growing across Europe. More and more parents are choosing to carry their children rear-facing, which is the safest way to transport them. Awareness is also growing – parents are increasingly talking openly with friends and family about the importance of proper car seat use.
Source: Educating for safer travels , Silje Kristin Hansen, Trygg Trafikk (National Council for Traffic Safety), Norway
This conference opened numerous topics and gave answers to many questions that bother parents.
The recommendation to drive children in rear-facing car seats was emphasized, which, in addition to the current crash tests and experiences from real traffic accidents, was explained in great detail with evidence from virtual tests . Along with the call to switch to forward-facing car seat as late as possible, the first study was also shown that gives an indication of what experts have recommended so far: namely, to switch to a booster with a backrest as late as possible. The importance of safe and correct installation of car seats was emphasized, and fascinating data on the conditions that affect parents’ correct fastening of the child in the seat can significantly help parents to make an extra effort in such situations and check that they have done everything correctly.
To ensure that parents have done everything necessary, we recommend that they prepare well and purchase car seats in specialized stores where professional staff can provide advice on the selection and proper use of car seats. In addition to reading the instructions for using the car seat, it is excellent that for user questions there is the possibility of consulting with experts on the market, certified in child safety advice.
BeSafe Croatia is also available to customers at the NajNaj customer center in Zagreb, where they can try out car seats and learn how to install them. You must arrange your appointment for consultation or installation in advance by emailing [email protected]