ADAC vs. Swedish Plus Test: what’s the difference?

With safety being the top priority, crash test results are an important (but by far not the only) indicator in determining a child seat’s safety performance. Most likely, you’ll have noticed a safety score from ADAC being advertised with various models when looking to buy a seat for your little one. If you’re in the market for a rear-facing toddler seat, you might also come across a Swedish Plus Test approval label. Both aim to help parents decide on the safest seat, but what’s the difference between them?

EU R129 Regulation

Before we dive into the differences between these tests, a quick note on the legal requirements of child seats. In Europe, all child car seats must meet the standards set by UN ECE Regulation No. 129 (R129), which includes testing for front, side, and rear impacts, among other criteria. Introduced in 2013 and regularly updated since, R129 has gradually replaced the older R44 regulation. (Seats compliant with R44 can still be used, however, as of September 2023, they can no longer be sold.)

If you’d like to learn more about the difference between R129 and R44, click here.

Both ADAC and the Swedish Plus Test go beyond these type-approval standards, implementing stricter testing requirements. Let’s break down what these tests involve and explore their differences step by step.

What is the ADAC test?

Even though the term “ADAC test” is commonly used, it’s important to clarify that it actually refers to tests conducted by a consortium of independent European consumer organisations. In addition to ADAC, the German automobile association, this group includes TCS and ÖAMTC—its Swiss and Austrian counterparts—as well as Stiftung Warentest, the independent German consumer testing organization. (For simplicity, we will continue using the term “ADAC” throughout this article.)

Child seat tests are carried out twice a year (in May and October) and the results are published by various European consumer organisations, including Which? in the United Kingdom or Consumentenbond in the Netherlands.

What is the Swedish Plus Test?

Often hailed “the toughest crash-test in the world”, the Swedish Plus Test is conducted by the Swedish National Road and Transport Research Institute (VTI) in Linköping. The test is voluntary for child seat manufacturers and focuses specifically on the neck protection in severe frontal impacts, which is not evaluated in the R129 tests.

What seats are tested?

To offer a comprehensive overview of available models, ADAC tests seats across all categories, from infant carriers to toddler and booster seats. All child seats are purchased anonymously, ensuring manufacturers have no influence over whether their seat is tested or not. In order to be considered, seats must have entered the market at least six months before the next test. This means that if the seat you’re considering has no available results, it might not have been tested yet. 

In the Swedish Plus Test, only rearward facing toddler seats (for children up to 125cm) are eligible for testing. It’s a voluntary test that child seat manufacturers can choose to apply (and pay) for. If a seat does not have Plus Test approval, it could be due to several reasons: the seat might not be eligible to apply (ex. if it’s convertible), the manufacturer might not have applied for the test, or the seat has failed the test.

What do the (crash)tests involve?

ADAC

The performance of a child seat is evaluated in a frontal impact test at 64 km/h as well as a side impact test at 50 km/h, both of which exceed the requirements of the European R129 standard. The deceleration rate in the frontal crash—how quickly the vehicle stops—is based on the Euro NCAP car tests.

The tests use real car bodies (currently a VW Polo VI) and the latest generation of Q-dummies. The seats are tested in various configurations with different dummy sizes and seating positions to simulate real-life scenarios.

In addition to the crash test results – which account for 50% of the overall score – ADAC takes a holistic approach to safety by also evaluating child seats based on the following criteria: 

• Usability: How easy is it to correctly install and use the seat?
• Ergonomics: Is the seat comfortable for the child?
• Pollutants: Are harmful chemicals present in the seat’s materials?

Swedish Plus Test

With the focal point being neck protection, the Swedish Plus Test consists of a single high-instensity frontal impact test at about 56 km/h (compared to 50 km/h in the R129 tests). However, the main difference to R129 and the ADAC test is not only the speed but the deceleration rate. The Swedish Plus Test features a shorter and harsher braking distance, resulting in a significantly greater force on the neck of your child. This force is measured by a sensor on the dummy and depending on the result, the seat will pass the test or not. 

The testing conditions are similar to those of R129, where a vehicle test bench is used. The tests are typically performed with one out of two Q-dummies, with one representing a 3-year-old child and the other a 6-year-old child.

Where can I find the results?

ADAC publishes results in three main categories: safety, ergonomics, and handling. These, along with the results of the pollutant test (which is a pass or fail test), make up the overall rating. The score ranges from 0.6 (very good) to 5.5 (inadequate) and can be found on their website – results of the May 2024. It’s important to know that if a seat can be used across multiple weight classes, body sizes, or installation types, each variation is tested separately and only the worst result from any single test is used for the final score. This ensures that the seat provides maximum safety for the child throughout its entire period of use.

This is especially interesting to know when it comes to convertible seats. Used rearward facing, the seat might be on par with a rear-facing only seat, however the overall safety result will most likely be lower as only the configuration with the lowest score (typically forward facing) will be published. One such example is our Marie 3. In the ADAC tests, the seat that received a solid “Good” in the overall safety category, but scored a five-star rating – “Very Good” – when used rear-facing. Read more on that här..

Seats assessed in the Swedish Plus Test, on the other hand, can pass or fail the test. There are no rankings or ratings assigned. Only seats that successfully protect the neck will be awarded a label and are published on VTI’s website.

As you can see, the ADAC and the Swedish Plus Test differ in almost every aspect (involuntary vs voluntary; tested seats; types of tests) and cannot truly be compared. What they do have in common is that they are both additional to the UN R129 type approval tests and aim to determine the safest child seat. However, their approach is quite different. Whilst the Swedish Plust Test solely focuses on neck protection in rearward facing toddler seats with a single high-intensity crash test, the ADAC tests child seats of every category in a more holistic way, taking into account a variety of real-life accident scenarios. 

After all, safety is not one dimensional, but multifaceted. There are numerous factors to be considered and weighed up against each other to create an all-round safe seat.

Swandoo’s point of view:

At Swandoo, we believe that safety has to be approached holistically and a variety of aspects have to be considered in order to develop a truly safe product. 

Of course, it’s important that a seat performs well in a frontal crash, but what’s the point of a stellar test performance, if the seat is not comfortable for your child? This might lead to them moving, wriggling and leaving the so-called “safety zone” of the seat where they are best protected. Equally, it’s important to keep in mind that most people using the seats are not necessarily engineers, child safety experts or wizards, but people going about their often hectic everyday lives. If the seat is overly complicated to install or use, your child might not be fastened correctly and the seat cannot properly protect them in the case of an accident. 

The same is true for rear-facing travel. We are big advocates of children travelling in rear-facing child seats for as long as possible to limit the load on the neck – one of the most vulnerable areas in small children – in a frontal collision. Read more about why rear-facing child seats are safer here. However, one-size-fits-all solutions rarely work. Life is complex and people’s situations are different so we believe it’s important to offer a choice. Some people might own a small car that isn’t suitable for long rear-facing periods; some children might detest rear-facing travel, making the drive not only less enjoyable but potentially less safe as well. Whatever the reason might be for the child to travel forward facing before the age of four years old, we believe the seat should protect the child as best as possible in every scenario and not create an obstacle to people’s everyday lives. 

The ADAC and European Consumer Organisations have done a great job in establishing a universal rating system making it easy to understand and trust the performance of these life-saving products. Their comprehensive approach to safety is in line with ours and the reason we prioritise the rating by ADAC, without undermining the importance of the Swedish Plus Test results.