The European Shield System has been around for decades, and although it is still legal in the EU (at the time of writing) the design has caused controversy when placed under scrutiny from testing in other countries. Let’s talk about what it is before we discuss the controversy.

What is the European Shield System

The European Shield System refers to a specific type of child restraint design that incorporates a unique shield or impact-absorbing structure at the front of the car seat. Unlike traditional five-point harness systems, which secure a child using shoulder and pelvic straps, the shield system uses a large, padded shield that acts as a barrier between the child and the potential forces of a crash. It is designed primarily for use in forward-facing car seats for toddlers and younger children. This system is no longer utilised in the US, phased out sometime in the late ‘90s. As a side note, all Shield System style seats are still required to comply with the EU’s ECE-R44 standard.

Key Features of the European Shield System

1. Padded Safety Shield: The most distinctive feature of the shield system is the large padded shield that covers the front of the seat. This shield serves as an energy-absorbing element that helps to distribute crash forces across a wider area of a child’s body, reducing the risk of injury to critical areas such as the head and neck.
2. Easy Adjustability: Many shield systems are designed to be adjustable, allowing the shield to be repositioned as the child grows. This ensures that the fit remains snug and secure, providing optimal protection at different stages of growth.
3. User-Friendly: The shield system commonly sold by emphasizing ease of use.

Benefits of the European Shield System

Many standards worldwide are designed to encourage innovation while setting minimum requirements for the safe transportation of children – and this is a very fine balance our standards organisations are distinctly aware of. For example, the Plus Test in Europe sets minimum load requirements on the crash test dummies as apposed to enforcing a design structure.

The primary benefit of Shield System is the comfort and versatility – and while the system does perform notably well in most tests there is a great deal of controversy over one that effects less than 10% of accidents.

The Controversy

The European Shield System has faced criticism from a wide variety of child safe transport interests including some manufacturers even though it performs well in most collision types. This critisism mostly revolves around child ejection and injury during rollover incidents.

Due to the discussions around the Shield System UTAC, an organisation involved in drafting regulations that are utilsed by the EU, performed a string of rollover tests in 2012. UTAC shared the results with many organisations including manufacturers. Have a look at the rollover video here;

(Video)

You can see from the video the reason many manufacturers, safety and government organisations around the world have not adopted this style of seat, or phased out the units from their lines. Though it is an innovative design, does provide significant ease of use features, this rollover vulnerability has highlighted the importance of seats performing dynamic testing including side impact and rollover tests.