European Pushchairs and Prams Standard (EN 1888:2012) Revised

June 26, 2012 - PRLog -- The national standards organizations of EU Member States have 6 months under CEN/CENELEC rules to absorb the new standard into their national legislations, which means by September 2012. CEN recommends a transitional period of implementation until July 2013.

To ensure safety during the transportation of children from 0 to 3 years of age, the new standard includes improved requirements for determining a protected volume and a clearer definition of the vehicle’s protective functions. There are also improvements to testing methods and angular requirements relative to the backrest and seat, to the backrest and leg rest, and horizontal. New requirements have been introduced to counter the entrapment hazards of holes and openings with finger and hip probes. To address issues with the latest designs, the requirements for locking mechanisms have undergone comprehensive revision, aiming to ensure the operation of folding systems is easier and safer. To check whether foam in bumper bars may become exposed by infants, there is a new bite test. To improve the safety of handles their strength and movement requirements are reinforced.

The requirements for parking devices are changed and these directly affect vehicles with reversible handles. It is now necessary that parking devices engage the wheels on both sides of the vehicle simultaneously by the parents operating a single control beside the handle. There are also improvements to the method for stability testing, which is intended to verify the vehicle’s properties of intrinsic stability. In order to highlight essential warnings and make safety information more legible for consumers, the product information required has been rephrased.

To demonstrate compliance to the General Product Safety Directive (http://ec.europa.eu/consumers/safety/prod_legis/index_en....) it is possible to use the revised EU standard EN 1888 for pushchairs and prams as a voluntary standard. It should be noted that the national legislation applies in EU Member States where specific national regulation or standard exists, which includes the UK and France.

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