Maxi-Cosi Makes First Child Car Seats with Airbags

Maxi-Cosi has launched what the company says is the first child car seat with airbags and it is now available at the retail level in the UK. Called the AxissFix Air, it will serve as a flagship model and was developed in collaboration with the mobile airbag specialist, Helite.

The seat is suitable for use by children ranging in height from 61 to 105 centimeters (2 feet and 3 feet, 5 inches) tall, and it comes with Isofix tethering hooks and a 360-degree rotating base to make installation easier. It has two small airbags that are integrated into the shoulder pads of the harness connected to a CO2 cartridge. In the event that a vehicle is involved in an accident, it instantly activates a seat-mounted sensor and the airbags inflate within 0.05 seconds.

When the new carseat was tested in forward collisions along with other non-airbag-equipped rivals, it demonstrated capacity to reduce the amount of force on a child’s head and neck vertebrae by a staggering 55 percent.

Andrew Ratcliffe, managing director of Maxi-Cosi said that Maxi-Cosi had begun researching the use of airbags to better protect a child’s head and neck in forward-facing car seats a few years ago. The company was inspired by successful applications in airbag technology, like airbag jackets for motorcyclists and went on to develop the new ground-breaking technology for its next generation of forward-facing car seats.
As of now, Maxi-Cosi does not have any plans for a wider range of airbag-equipped child car seats. It is expected that further deployment of products like this will help to reduce the numbers of children who are seriously injured in car accidents. The focus now will be on making the technology more affordable for more families.