What is ISOFIX?

ISO 13216 is the standard for fitting child safety seats in vehicles. Known as ISOFIX (which stands for "International Standards Organisation FIX") in the UK and Europe, it has been in use since the early 2000's and was designed as a "Plug-in" system for fitting child safety seats in cars quickly and simply. (The same system is known as LATCH in the United States).

The idea is very simple. All new cars are manufactured with inconspicuous attachment points in standard locations, whilst ISOFIX compatible child seats have latches on the back to lock onto the mounting points in the car with a simple push and click system.

Why was it developed?

ISOFIX car seats have been an important development in safety as many people find it difficult to fit child seats correctly. Surveys have shown that a large proportion of child seats are not fitted securely enough.

As only a properly fitted child seat can provide a child with the correct protection, the ISOFIX system helps to eliminate the chance of misfitting the seat, and provides a quick and easy way to correctly install a compatible seat by attaching it directly to the vehicles ISOFIX connection points.

What are the benefits?

Most child seats on the market are currently designed to be fitted by using a car's adult lap and diagonal seat belt. However, car seat shapes, seat belt lengths and their anchorage points can vary dramatically between different models of cars. These factors make it almost impossible to make a child car seat that fits all cars, and can sometimes make it tricky to fit a child car seat correctly.

ISOFIX was designed to solve all these problems and to improve the performance of child seats by rigidly attaching them to the car's structure.The ultimate aim is that any ISOFIX child car seat you buy will fit your car simply by plugging it into the locating points.
However, there are several versions of the ISOFIX system, you must check which is suitable for your vehicle.

Find out if you can use ISOFIX »