Ricardo Martinez recently sent a toughly worded letter to major manufacturers excoriating them for making seats that "barely comply" with the standards, for trying to wiggle out of recalls and allowing safety hazards to slip into some of their projects, the Washington Post reported.

Martinez said his agency is considering setting up a rating system for car baby seats so that consumers would know which seats were the safest.

The ratings would be similar to the five-star rating system the agency presently to rank crash safety for cars and trucks.

"With the safety of our nation's children at issue, mere compliance with the minim requirements of the standard is not enough," Martinez' letter said.  

The Juvenile Products Manufacturers Association responded by saying that the emphasis should be on training parents to use the seats properly instead of using scare tactics about what it called minor, non-safety issues.