Car seats are an essential tool to ensure our youngest passengers are safe and secure, especially in the event of a car accident. Unfortunately, they’re not exactly fashion-forward — most of them have kid-friendly colors and cartoon characters which can look pretty silly in your snazzy BMW. Thankfully, the German car giant is on top of that, too — they just released some BMW-branded car seats that will look good in nearly any car. Let’s take a closer look at these seats and the brilliant configuration.
This design lets you fit 3 car seats in a normal back seat, giving each one plenty of room. We just wish this happened in the US.
Baby Seat Group 0+
These car seats are currently only available in Europe, but hopefully, we’ll be seeing them in the States before too long. BMW currently lists three seats as part of its BMW accessory line — The Baby Seat Group 0+ is an infant car seat, the BMW Junior Seat Group 1 is for children from 12 months to 4 years, and the BMW Junior Seat Group 2/3 is an adjustable booster chair for children age 3 to 12 who are too large for the previous two seats.
BMW writes all the names in caps, but we felt like we were screaming so we skipped that part.
Car Seat Safety
Car crashes aren’t just dangerous for adults. According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, car crashes are the leading cause of death for children under 13. They also estimate 71 percent of these accident-related fatalities would have been preventable if the driver adequately secured the child.
Child restraint laws might vary from state to state, but in general, you need to ensure:
- You have appropriately restrained all children under age 4 in a car seat
- All children under 2 are in a rear-facing car seat
- Children over 4 but under 8 need to be in a booster seat and a seatbelt
- Children over 8 and under 18 must be in a seat with a belt that fits properly
The American Academy of Pediatrics takes these rules to a new level to include height and weight restrictions. Toddlers up to 2 should stay rear-facing until they exceed the height and weight requirements of their infant car seat — which will depend on the exact make and model of car seat you purchase. Children who have outgrown their infant car seats should be in forward-facing car seats as long as possible.
To ensure safety in the event of a car accident, children who are too big for a car seat should sit in the backseat until they are at least 13. Most children will require a booster seat or belt positioner until they are at least 4 feet 9 inches tall.
Car seats don’t have to look like an eyesore in the backseat to be able to keep your little ones safe. BMW has proven that — even if you don’t drive a BMW, you might want to think about picking up one of these sleek BMW car seats for your car.