Research by consumer group Which? finds shops not highlighting crucial safety information Parents seeking advice on which children’s car seat to buy are being failed by retailers who are giving out misleading information and installing seats incorrectly, according to undercover research.

The research by consumer group Which? shows that almost a year after the group exposed problems with fittings at seven major retailers, assistants at some of their shops are still not asking the right questions to establish which seat will be safest, and making inaccurate claims about which cars they fit.

Halfords and Babies R Us scored worst in the exercise. In seven visits by researchers to Babies R Us, the undercover reporters said the seat was fitted correctly only once. Errors included misrouted and twisted seatbelts, both of which could compromise a child’s safety.

At Halfords, an assistant incorrectly told researchers that all belted seats fitted all cars, while at Mamas Papas just one store fitted the seat correctly and three attached straps incorrectly. In John Lewis, Which? said staff knowledge was generally good, but seats were fitted incorrectly in five out of seven cases.

The researchers posed as parents with an 11-month-old child weighing 9kg (20lbs) the lowest weight at which a child can legally move into a forward-facing seat.

Experts recommend that children stay in rear seats for as long as possible, as these offer more protection to a child’s neck and spine in the event of a crash, and many infant seats accommodate children beyond this weight. However in 21 out of 35 shop visits the child’s weight was not mentioned.

The best fitting service was offered by Mothercare, where assistants asked the weight on six out of seven visits and recommended remaining in a rear-facing seat in four cases. Although only three Mothercare assistants asked what car the seat was being used in, seven out of seven checked the chosen seat was suitable in the researchers’ car.

Which? executive director Richard Lloyd said parents should be able to trust the advice they were getting from major retailers. “It is unacceptable that major high street retailers are still giving poor advice and failing to highlight crucial information that is key to a child’s safety, despite some of them promising to do better last year,” he said.

In a statement, Halfords said it was disappointed with the findings and “committed to improvement”. “The care and safety of children is an absolute priority at Halfords. Our free child seat fitting is praised by customers and we are committed to deliver a consistently high level of service,” it said.

“We have held a comprehensive Rospa accredited training programme and are investing in a child seat trainer in everyone of our 467 stores nationwide.”

Babies R Us told Which? the researchers’ findings were at odds with the results of the retailer’s internal testing but said it would review its training.

Which? also looked at online sales, as increasingly parents are using the internet to get the best price on their seats. Researchers were told by a staff member at Argos that although the retailer did not offer fitting, customers could take their seats to be fitted at Mothercare or Halfords even though those retailers only fit seats they have sold.

Accident investigators do not collect information about how child car seats have been fitted, so there is no evidence on how badly-fitted seats contribute to accidents, however crash tests suggest that some fitting faults can lead to the child having little or no protection if they are involved in a crash.

Recently a mother was told by the high court that she was not entitled to full compensation for an accident involving her child because she had used a car seat inappropriate for her age.

Peter Knowles, a road safety officer at Bromley council, which runs a car-seat safety centre, said retailers had a “pivotal role” in advising parents. “Generally the parents do not know enough about the seats when they are buying so the retailer needs to help them.”

Knowles said 70 per cent of the car seats he saw were still badly fitted, with 10 per cent installed with errors that could cause serious injury in the event of an accident.

— Guardian News & Media Ltd