Phase 2 of UN r 129

The introduction of the first phase of UN r 129 (commonly also known as ‘i-Size’) in 2013 introduced many new aspects for baby and toddler car seats. The second phase of UN r 129 became active in June 2017 and brings new requirements for high back booster seats. We have summarized some of the most important points for you and give you a little sneak-peek of some exciting news to come.

What is the phase 2 of UN r 129?

Focus on high back booster seats

While phase 1 of UN r 129 regulated child car seats up to a child’s height of 105 cm, phase 2 focusses on high back booster seats from a stature height of 100 cm onwards.

Tougher impact criteria

Similar to phase 1 of UN r 129, the second phase puts much higher safety demands on booster seats than ECE r 44-04 did, now also including side impact tests as well as more severe criteria for assessing likely injury.

Increased safety for your child

Booster seats approved according to phase 2 of UN r 129 need to have a backrest that cannot be removed, thereby further increasing the safety for the children.

Different categories within phase 2

The second phase of UN r 129 contains different categories: the ‘i-Size booster seat’ category and the ‘specific vehicle booster seat’ category.

The ‘i-Size booster seat’ category ensures you that a booster seat in this category fits in all positions in a vehicle that have an i-Size marking themselves for a child’s stature height up to 135 cm. Additionally, it allows for a maximum width of 44 cm for the booster seat and requires stowable ISOfix arms, so that the booster seat can be installed both with and without ISOfix.

The ‘specific vehicle booster seat’ category allows for widths above 44 cm, so that the fit in terms of height and width depends on the vehicle and should therefore always be tried out before purchase.

It is also possible to combine the categories ‘i-Size booster seat’ and ‘specific vehicle booster seat’ into one booster seat.

BeSafe and the phase 2 of UN r 129

Safety has always been and will always be BeSafe’s main priority. All children shall travel as safe as possible in the car, meaning rear facing for children up to four years of age and in a booster with a fixed back rest for older children.
We therefore welcome the further development of UN r 129 including and promoting high back booster seats with fixed back rests.

Naturally, we develop our products with the latest safety developments and regulations in mind. We proved this in 2013 by launching one of the first child car seats in the world approved by UN r 129: the iZi Kid i-Size.

We now implement BeSafe’s safety standards together with the requirements from UN r 129 and are taking safety to a new level by developing the BeSafe iZi Flex FIX i-Size – a high back booster seat that meets the severe impact criteria of UN r 129 and is truly flexible based on your family’s needs.

iZi Flex FIX i-Size is developed to meet both BeSafe’s and UN r 129’s severe crash criteria through a dynamic flex-performance and multiple layers. It further meets the requirements of both the i-Size and the specific vehicle category, allowing you to narrow it down to a width of 44cm and to install it with our without ISOfix for true flexibility.

Thanks to its innovative features and a safety performance that meets the demands of UN r 129, the iZi Flex FIX i-Size has won the Kind & Jugend Innovation Award 2017! We’re looking forward to sharing more news and product details with you soon!