BOOSTER SEAT EVALUATION: BELT ANCHORAGE LOCATION EFFECT AND PERFORMANCE IN REAR-FACING SEATS. FINAL REPORT
Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard (FMVSS) No. 213, "Child Restraint Systems", specifies minimum performance standards for child restraints. The current standard does not address the use of three-point belts with booster seats, nor the use of boosters in rear-facing seats. This study tested belt-positioning booster seats using four sets of anchorage locations. Three of the sets represent the average, maximum, and minimum anchorage locations found in a fleet vehicle survey conducted at the Vehicle Research and Test Center. The fourth set of anchorages corresponds to the specifications found in European Economic Community (ECE) Regulation 44. The dummies were most likely to contact an upper anchorage location in the ECE 44 and the VRTC Minimum positions, giving a high head acceleration value. These two anchorages also may prevent proper centering of the child restraint relative to the anchorage locations. With the VRTC Maximum locations, the measured results indicated that the restraints were effective. However, the films showed severe loading across the dummies' necks, and the 6-year-old's abdomen came out in several tests. The VRTC mean anchorage locations might provide the most equitable evaluation of belt-positioning booster seats. This study also evaluated small shield and belt-positioning booster seats in a rear-facing seat. While the dummies stayed in the booster seats during testing, their heads contacted the rear beam behind the seat, giving misleading HIC and head acceleration results. This contact primarily resulted from significant compression of the seat back foam during the initial portion of the crash pulse. The current FMVSS No. 213 seat fixture appears inappropriate for evaluation of booster seat performance in rear-facing seats or rear impacts.
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Corporate Authors:
National Highway Traffic Safety Administration
Vehicle Research and Test Center, P.O. Box 37
East Liberty, OH United States 43319 -
Authors:
- Klinich, K D
- SULLIVAN, L K
- Publication Date: 1993-9
Language
- English
Media Info
- Features: Appendices; Figures; Photos; References; Tables;
- Pagination: 191 p.
Subject/Index Terms
- TRT Terms: Anchorages; Child restraint systems; Crash tests; Crashes; Dummies; Location; Testing
- Identifier Terms: Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards; FMVSS 213
- Old TRIS Terms: Rearward facing child seat
- Subject Areas: Highways; Research; Safety and Human Factors; Vehicles and Equipment; I91: Vehicle Design and Safety; I95: Vehicle Inspection;
Filing Info
- Accession Number: 00719462
- Record Type: Publication
- Source Agency: National Highway Traffic Safety Administration
- Report/Paper Numbers: VRTC-82-0236, HS-808 092
- Files: HSL, TRIS, USDOT
- Created Date: Mar 21 1996 12:00AM