Sharing a passion for educating parents on car safety, Dadsnet have teamed up with Axkid – Swedish car seat manufacturer and advocate of rear-facing travel.

Dadsnet’s community of dads were invited to an event in London designed to outline the differences between front-and-rear facing car seats. With shocking statistics and a cinematic experience, they aim to pave the way for a rear-facing revolution here in the UK.

Following their new partnership, Dadsnet and Axkid invited dads to come and see Axkid’s extended rear-facing seats for themselves and, most importantly, learn the key differences between forward vs rearward facing travel. Gathered in an independent cinema, they watched hard-hitting crash test footage of the different car seats. On the big screen, child-sized dummies received the full force of a front impact collision. While the rear-facing child is slightly jostled in their seat, the front-facing child is flung forwards, doubling over from the force.

“Definitely if I had seen this before having kids, or before buying those car seats, I’d have bought rear-facing ones that go all the way up to 4, 5, 6…” said one dad after seeing the crash test video.

“As dads, all we want to do is protect our kids. Judging by the audience’s reactions, I think a lot of us have been persuaded that rear-facing is the best way to do that,” – Al, Dadsnet

Visitors to the event were also given the opportunity to try on a specially designed helmet to simulate the weight of a child’s head. With adults, our heads are only about 6% of our total bodyweight, whereas for a child it’s a huge 25%. As this is hard to comprehend, the helmet allowed dads to understand just how heavy a child’s head is on their little shoulders.

This is incredibly important to consider when it comes to car seats. When little ones are strapped in with a 5 point harness, their body may be safe and secure, but the head – that’s a quarter of their entire body weight – is free to move. This means that, in the event of a crash, the head continues to move in the direction of impact, while the body remains restrained. In a rear-facing seat, this means the impact is cushioned by the headrest, but in a forward-facing seat they’re flung forwards.

“We liken the force to 3 baby elephants pulling on your child’s head – it’s that equivalent of a force,”  commented Jayne Caul, Axkid

Towards the end of the event, Dadsnet invited dads to a Q&A with Axkid’s Jayne Caul and Peter Holtham, which was featured on Dadsnet’s podcast Don’t Tell Your Mum. With many audience members now seriously considering rear-facing car seats, the discussion gave them an opportunity to raise any concerns and quash a number of myths. Find out more on Dadsnet’s website, or listen on all major streaming platforms.

To learn more about the advantages of rear-facing travel, or to check out Axkid’s range of ultra-safe car seats, head over to www.axkid.com/uk.

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For more information, please contact:

UK/IE Country Manager, tel: 07810867644, e-mail: jayne.caul@axkid.com