If you have children, or are planning the arrival of your newborn, you will likely have come across the ISOFIX term when researching car seats.
ISOFIX is an internationally standardised car seat system which most modern cars have incorporated into their models.
The system was named at the International Organisation for Standardisation – aka ISO.
How does ISOFIX work?
In terms of it’s application, the ISOFIX system is a very secure way for your car to lock a child’s car seat in place when driving.
Within the car itself, if it is ISOFIX compatible, you will find anchor points within the point of the seat where the seat meets the back rest. These are usually metal and u-shaped.
Car seats which have the ISOFIX system included in their design have either metal or plastic arms with corresponding clips at the end of these arms.
You position the car seat in place and then push these clips into the anchor points where the clips attach. This secures the car seat in place and it can only be disengaged by the use of buttons on the arms which release the clips.
Baby seats usually have a 3rd point of contact with the vehicle in the form of a ‘leg’ which extends to the case of the footwell.
With baby seats the child is then strapped into the seat with integrated harnesses within the seat.
For toddlers and young children, depending on the design, their car seats usually make use of the car’s seat belts to strap them into the car sear.