Travelling means experiencing the pleasure of looking forward to a new experience, whether it’s watching a film at the cinema, going on a voyage or an important change in life like bringing a new baby home from the hospital.

And travelling is the enjoyment of returning home with plenty of new experiences to talk about, aware that no words can fully express what you have experienced.

We’ve always loved travelling.

Travel is what first took you to see what was outside the door of your home when you were a child, and then to see what’s outside the window of your car; as a teenager, it took you to discover distant lands and find your own place in the world; and now, as a parent, it allows you to take your own children along the same path, protecting and guiding them.

You know it’s not easy to travel with children. Going places with young children forces you to address a number of practical and organisational difficulties. It can become a true psychological barrier that you need to go beyond if you are to enjoy all the experiences of life.

To explore the world with your children in perfect serenity, you need the right equipment: safe, practical, comfortable solutions. Peg Perego has been with you ever since you were small and wanted to spend as much time as possible playing. And we continue our experience together with a complete line of travel systems designed to guarantee safety and comfort.

Good reasons: 9 new generation car seats.

Ready to travel with you as an indispensable aid to your trip! Here they are:

Car seats for all ages and categories, from birth to the age of twelve.

The first nest for baby to travel in:

• Navetta XL and Navetta Elite: supplied with a Car Kit with three point belts with shoulder pads (sold separately).

The first true car seat, facing the opposite direction to the direction of travel:

• Primo Viaggio SL: safe connection with a Belted Base and an Isofix Base 0+ 1 K (both sold separately).

Facing the road, now that the child is big enough to look out the window:

• Viaggio 0+1 Switchable: held in place with safety belts in either the direction of travel or the opposite direction.
• Viaggio1 Duo-Fix K: can be held in place with the safety belt or with the Isofix Base 0+ 1 K (sold separately).
• Viaggio1 Duo-Fix K TT: with built-in Isofix attachments and a Top Tether anchorage belt.

Long-lasting multi-group seats:

• Viaggio 1⋅2⋅3 Via: dual certification for use from one to twelve years, with built-in Isofix connectors and a Top Tether anchorage belt.
• Viaggio 2-3 Flex: maximum stability with a built-in Surefix base, it can be folded up and carried away like a suitcase.
• Viaggio 2-3 Surefix: two anchorage methods, with belts and with Surefix hooks.
• Viaggio 2-3 Shuttle: two anchorage methods, with belts and with Isofix hooks.

Thus equipped, you can travel safely with your children as a responsible parent and driver, not just a passenger.

#MoreThanAJourney, #ViaggiareèPegPerego,  because we’ve always loved travelling with children!

 Photo by mspkerner

Photo by keeepitrad

Photo by Olga Zabora

Photo by  Mamabloggt

 Photo by NicolettaGauci

Photo by TheRealEp

In the 2014 collection car seats take on new colors and patterns, such as Camouflage. You can be creative even if the child seat is designed for safe travelling in cars, can't you?
Little girls might see this Fleur car seat as a charming armchair for princesses...

If you want it all, a Fleur version of our multiple award-winning Primo Viaggio SL is available. It can be combined with Booklet or it can be bought with the Book PopUp modular set.

A good start...

The program includes workshops, round tables, awards and hundreds of opportunities for families to spend time together and have fun. Dads and children are welcome to the Social Family Day event and they can enjoy a program planned specially for them.

This year a shuttle bus service was organized - #merivaflexmom. How can you adequately shuttle over two hundred blogger moms and their children? 
With our car seats, of course! To ensure safety, a comfortable ride and all the quality of Made in PegPerego products.

The car seats used by the children are Viaggio 2-3 Surefix and Primo Viaggio SL, both in Fleur fabric.

If this were not enough, Peg Perego sends its products to the institutes that deal with car seat ratings. These institutes assign the “final” rating, which is often what consumers check when they are thinking of buying a product.

As we told you last year, these highly structured tests with high standards are designed to reward excellence. This is the reason we are so pleased with the results obtained by our new Primo Viaggio SL.

Here is a translation of the article on the official Swiss web site: “In the 2013 TCS tests on car seats, 25 products were assessed and subjected to 150 collision tests and 1,000 individual tests. The subjects of the tests were safety during accidents, manageability, ergonomics, practical aspects and the presence of any toxic substances.  Ten products were “strongly recommended” and, for the first time, two were given excellent ratings.

(…) For the first time in 45 years of tests, two car seats obtained the top rating (5 stars). The Peg-Pérego Primo Viaggio SL car seat for newborn babies (which, until June, was sold only in Italy), is easy to use thanks to the Isofix base in the car and offers excellent protection in the case of accidents”.

Yes, you’ve understood that properly! Our Primo Viaggio SL car seat, which until June was available only in Italy, has already set a record by achieving top 5-star rating, a rating that had never been assigned before. You can read the full article on the  TCS website or (in German) on the Adac and Oamtc web sites.

Below is an extract from the table published on the Adac web site.

Do you remember that, for car seats, the rating is a score ranging from 0.6 to 5.5, with the lowest score being the best? In our case, the 1.5 you can see corresponds to Sehr Gut. Many German web sites and papers (Focus, Bild, DerSpiegel) have already published this piece of news and the press clippings cannot but increase, partly because space is always reserved for news that is in the customers’ interest.

And here is the badge that will decorate our Primo Viaggio SL car seats, with a summary of the achieved results and the obtained awards. As we told you in our post on car seat ratings, the above mentioned tests are different and assess different properties. The results are also expressed in different ways (star rating, score etc). What we can say is that we  passed all the results with flying colors and this badge proves it.

Let’s toast to this result!

Sometimes, however, it is really hard for those not "inside" the process to imagine all the steps that are followed.
This is why we decided to publish the story of the Engineer Agrati, who went to Munich with his team just before Christmas to do some tests.

“We concluded three days of tests at the ADAC laboratory in Munich, where EuroNCAP tests, which give the famous "stars" to car seats and cars, are performed. These tests, although very expensive for the company, are of absolute importance for the development of new car seats.

Perhaps few people know that when a car seat is launched for the so-called crash test, the collision occurs in about 2 tenths of a second, during which the car seat goes from 70 km/h to zero.

It would be impossible to understand what would happen if these tests were not filmed by means of sophisticated high-speed cameras that allow engineers to see the crashes and understand what to do to reduce the negative consequences.

The modern test dummies, the Crash Test Dummies, which come with the laboratory, are much more sophisticated than the dummies used in European certification today. In fact, they are able to record decelerations sustained by the child in the head, torso and neck, and through these values we can calculate how much energy is absorbed into the child's head, how much force affects the neck, not just in a frontal collision but also in a side collision, a test which is not yet provided in European certifications.

Thanks to these experiences our company is able to design and produce a range of car seats characterized by two aspects, present in all products:

1) a generous headrest that can absorb the force of the collision;

2) the ISOFIX connection, which can significantly reduce the collision force suffered by the baby in the case of an accident.

Particularly in these three days, we have developed some improvements which will be present in the 2012 range of the Viaggio 1 Duofix but most of all we have been able to complete, with superlative results, the certification test for a completely new car seat that will be put on the market next year.

I still cannot tell you what model it is, however I am very pleased that these certification tests have been concluded far ahead of production, so that our youngest customers will already have a well-tested and reliable product available."

Use it as a rear-facing car seat to carry children weighing less than 13 kg – it is a comfortable little nest for a newborn, with a booster cushion. Use it as a forward-facing seat to carry children weighing between 9 and 18 kg, so they can look at the world during the journey.

The seat has Adjustable Side Impact Protection. There are 7 positions for the adjustable safety harness and headrest, to ensure maximum safety at every stage of the child’s growth. The seat can be reclined in five positions, so it can be relaxing to travel in and safe to nap in. The headrest and booster cushion are made of Fresco Jersey, a soft, transpiring fabric.

The safety harness has adjustable shoulder straps that can be positioned on the seat thanks to a blocking system, which makes positioning the child easier.
Discover how simple this versatile car seat is to use by looking at the video. We made it to show you the features of our Viaggio 0+1 Switchable – one car seat for your child, from birth to the age of four.

These associations publish the ratings of products in various categories both in hardcopy and online, so as to render them accessible to everyone.

How is a product's rating determined?
For car seats, the rating is a score ranging from 0.5 (best) to 5.5 (worst).
The final rating takes into account two main categories:
- dynamic safety, which accounts for 50% of the final score, and
- handling/ease of use, which accounts for the remaining 50% of the final score.

The rating of car seats was first conceived by the German rating company Stiftung Warentest (commonly known as STIWA) in the mid-Seventies.

Today, the rating of car seats results from the combined efforts of various companies operating together.
STIWA (Germany) publishes the results, ADAC (Germany) performs dynamic product tests, TCS (Switzerland) deals with in-vehicle product installations, and OAMTC (Austria) handles overall calculations and handling tests.

Dynamic rating is made up of two elements:
- Frontal impact: this takes place at 72 km/h against a solid barrier using a suitably stiffened vehicle structure (Golf VI).
- Side impact: this takes place at 28 km/h against a solid barrier at an angle of about 80°.

In both impacts, HIC (head injury criteria) values are considered, measuring the "amount of energy" absorbed by the head of the dummy, the head and chest accelerations, and the neck forces and moments, which determine the stress to which the neck is subjected.

An algorithm applied to these measurements, each of which has a maximum and minimum figure, gives the final score, ranging from 0.5 to 5.5. Each parameter has a particular weighting in determining the final score. These dynamic tests are conducted by ADAC, in Germany.

The tests carried out to determine the handling rating are less scientific but no less complex than those for the dynamic rating.
Rating is performed through 5 steps:

1) Placing the product in the vehicle,

2) Putting the belts in place around the child,

3) Fastening the belts,

4) Tightening the belts,

5) Subjective rating.

A score from 1 (good) to 5 (poor) is determined at each step.

Each step is also put through a Misuse Rating, with a score from 0 to 10, based on the risk of something going wrong and the consequences that this error can cause. The worst Misuse Rating is then used in the final calculation.

Installation tests are performed on three vehicle types - family vans, medium-sized cars (e.g. Golf) and city cars - using volunteers unconnected with the car seat industry or business.

When are new scores published?
At the beginning of each new rating season, STIWA, together with the other associations, performs an overview of all the new products that have entered the market and those that will be presented at industry trade fairs. A list is then compiled of all the products considered worthy of testing.

There are two particular moments of assessment during the year.
The first is a test conducted between January and February on products found on sale in December of the previous year (tests are only carried out on products already on the market). The results are then published in magazines in the month of June.

The second, instead, is a test conducted in August on products found on the market in June. These results are then published in magazines in the month of December.
The second testing has less bearing, as the products examined are far fewer than those tested at the start of the year, and is regarded as a sort of second chance for new or previously rejected products.

Once the results are published, manufacturers can ask STIWA, ADAC, OAMTC and TCS for permission to apply a nameplate on the product indicating the score obtained. This "certified" information is useful for consumers in search of parameters on which to base a decision - it must be said - of vital importance.

The prize for outstanding achievements in the field of "Research, Quality, Design and Product Development" was awarded to our Viaggio 2-3 Surefix in the prestigious setting of the Kind&Jugend Fair in Cologne.

Our car seat, suitable for children aged 3 to 12, was rewarded for its safety and versatility features, and in particular for the ability of the Viaggio 2-3 Surefix to follow the growth of your child.

Below, Paola Parodi, Marketing and Sales Manager of Peg Perego, receives the Beberoyal plaque!

The video of the test drive of the new five-door Lancia Ypsilon highlights the model’s most significant features, but also the presence of Isofix attachments, ensuring ease of car seat installation. And guess what? The car seat used is our very own Viaggio 2-3 Surefix, the brand new car seat designed for older children (up to 36 kg, or 12 years of age), which has already received prestigious awards across Europe. Pretty good, right?

This is why we are excited to present the brand new Viaggio 2-3 Surefix, the perfect complement to a range of car travel solutions enabling you to choose PegPerego from birth to your child's 12th birthday.

Viaggio 2-3 Surefix is a car seat for children weighing 15 to 36 kg, and is therefore suitable for children aged 3 to 12. Its main features are protection and versatility, as Viaggio 2-3 Surefix can be adapted as your child grows.

Viaggio 2-3 Surefix comes with a wide protective backrest and an enveloping headrest, essential when the child naps, that can be adjustable in height. The seat protects the child against side impacts and provides maximum stability around corners thanks to Surefix fastenings. The reclining backrest and adjustable seat ensure maximum comfort even on long trips. The seat also comes with two retractable cup holders.

Light and easy to install and dismantle, Viaggio 2-3 Surefix has a double approval because there are two possible installations: with the vehicle's 3-point seatbelt (universal category) or with the vehicle's 3-point seatbelt and Surefix fastenings (semi-universal category).

Viaggio 2-3 Surefix is worth more because it gives you more: watch our presentation video to discover all its features and functions.