Baloise crash test highlights dangers of incorrect child restraint

Baloise Holding AG / Key word(s): Miscellaneous
Baloise crash test highlights dangers of incorrect child restraint

24.05.2024 / 07:00 CET/CEST

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Basel, 24 May 2024. Awareness around the subject of child restraint in cars
has improved enormously over recent decades. But although the safety
standards themselves are now very high, there is still too little being done
to educate the public. This means that consumers rarely have enough
knowledge or clarity to properly navigate the dizzying array of products on
offer. Baloise joined forces with Dynamic Test Center AG (DTC AG), the city
of Basel's traffic police and the retailer baby-walz to carry out a crash
test featuring various methods of restraint.

Every day, emergency workers attend accidents in which children have been
incorrectly restrained. The consequences for the little ones can often be
fatal. So, what do parents, grandparents, or even taxi drivers have to do
when travelling with a child? As it turns out, the answers are not that
simple and the relevant knowledge is not easily accessible.

"Today, we are looking to recreate a car accident with a scenario that is
quite conceivable in hectic everyday family life. Our aim is to highlight
the dangers of insufficient child restraint and to explain, as clearly as
possible, the safest way for people to travel with children," says Daniel
Junker, Head Vehicle Expert at Baloise.

The first collision was an eye-opener: One parent was in the driver's seat,
while the other had an unsecured baby on their lap in the passenger seat.
Sitting in the middle of the rear bench was a six-year-old restrained only
by a waist belt. To their left was a three-year old, correctly secured in a
backwards-facing infant safety seat. The accident was recreated using
dummies.

Immediately after the crash test, Fabian Aschwanden from DTC AG commented on
the consequences of the accident: "This was undoubtedly a very violent
collision, in which severe injuries could be expected if restraint systems
are not used correctly."

The analysis of the accident starts in the front, with the driver, who was
correctly restrained and therefore optimally protected from the impact. The
secondary restraint systems, such as the airbags and seat-belt
pre-tensioners, were triggered and this clearly helped to reduce his
injuries.

The picture was very different in the passenger seat. Although the secondary
restraint systems (e.g. airbags and seat-belt pre-tensioners) were also
triggered here, neither the female passenger, who was wearing her seatbelt
correctly, nor the baby were sufficiently protected. Because the bodies of
the passenger and the baby were in contact with each other, the former would
be expected to suffer severe injuries to her upper body and the latter would
suffer very severe injuries generally.

Although the child sitting in the middle on the rear bench seat was
restrained, this kind of restraint system is clearly insufficient and should
be avoided. The child was secured only by a waist belt, which, without use
of a booster seat, can quickly shift towards soft tissue areas when being
used by children. The child's upper body and head collapsed into other each
and it can be assumed that the child would have suffered severe injuries
from their head colliding with their legs or the interior of the car.

Finally, the example of best practice on the left-hand side of the rear
bench. Here, the child's entire upper body, including the neck and head, was
secured in the infant safety seat. As a result, there was no acute trauma
due to the head striking the interior or in the areas where the seat belt
rests. Marco Bütikofer of baby-walz commented: "This example of the use of a
'reboarder' - a rear-facing children's car seat - is obviously ideal. But
use of a forward-facing infant car seat, with a correctly positioned
seatbelt, would also likely result in much less severe injuries than in the
other examples."

Albin Hugentobler, head of the city of Basel's traffic police, added:
"Infant car seats have to be the right size for the child, they need to be
correctly mounted and adjusted, and the child must be restrained in the seat
in accordance with the manufacturer's instructions. Every year, around 300
children are injured in accidents involving passenger cars. The risk of a
child being injured in an accident can be greatly reduced by ensuring they
are correctly restrained."

Daniel Junker of Baloise offered the following summary of the crash test:
"We found that children always need to be in an infant seat that is
appropriate for their age. It is recommended that children up to the age of
three be restrained in a backwards-facing car seat. Travelling with
unsecured babies or children on your lap can result in fatal injuries for
both parties and should be avoided at all costs."

Contact
Baloise, Aeschengraben 21, CH-4002 Basel
Website: www.baloise.com
E-Mail: media.relations@baloise.com / investor.relations@baloise.com
Media Relations: Tel: +41 58 285 76 09
Investor Relations: Tel: +41 58 285 81 81

About Baloise

The focus is firmly on the future at Baloise. We aim to make tomorrow more
straightforward, safer and more carefree for our customers, and we are
taking responsibility for this today. Baloise is more than just a
traditional insurance company. Through our smart finance and insurance
solutions, we offer a complete service package. Dependable support, reliable
cooperation and trust-based relationships are key aspects of our stakeholder
interaction. We take care of financial matters so that our customers can
concentrate on the important things in their lives and can find inspiration
in the everyday. Baloise, a European company founded more than 160 years
ago, currently employs 8,000 people at its headquarters in Basel
(Switzerland) and across its subsidiaries in Belgium, Germany and
Luxembourg. Our services generated a business volume of around CHF 8.6
billion in 2023. Baloise Holding Ltd shares (BALN) are listed on the SIX
Swiss Exchange.


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End of Media Release

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   Language:       English
   Company:        Baloise Holding AG
                   Aeschengraben 21
                   4002 Basel
                   Switzerland
   Phone:          +41 61 285 85 85
   Fax:            +41 61 285 70 70
   E-mail:         media.relations@baloise.com
   Internet:       https://www.baloise.com
   ISIN:           CH0012410517
   Listed:         BX Berne eXchange; SIX Swiss Exchange
   EQS News ID:    1910241

End of News EQS News Service
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1910241 24.05.2024 CET/CEST