ARE YOUR BREAKABLES AS SAFE AS YOU HOPE? SAFETY RESTRAINT SYSTEM FOR CHILDREN

The article discusses the effectiveness of child restraint systems. More than half of a sample of 100 tested by the AA were found to be potentially dangerous. One of the reasons is that many were purchased 'secondhand' without fitting instructions; even a well designed safety seat was found to be unsafe with improper fixing. It was apparent that the task of mounting child restraints was too difficult for some parents. However, some garage mechanics did not follow the manufacturers' fixing instructions. Cars could easily be provided with rear seat anchorage points. Some car manufactureres including Volvo offered custom-built child safety appliances for their model range. Rearward facing Volvo child seats can be installed or removed in 20 secs. It is claimed that rearward facing seats offer the best protection to frontal impacts. Little research has been carried out into the effect of side impacts on child restraints. Germany and Switzerland have introduced legislation to prohibit children below the age of 12 from riding in the front seat. /TRRL/

• Corporate Authors:

  Drive Publications, Limited

  Fanum House, Basingstoke
  Hampshire RG21 2EA,   England 
• Authors:
  • Johnstone, R
• Publication Date: 1977-3-4

Language

• English

Media Info

• Features: Photos;
• Pagination: p. 29-33
• Serial:
  • DRIVE
  • Issue Number: 44

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Adolescents; Anchorages; Building; Child restraint systems; Children; Defects; Facilities; Front seats; Impacts; Installation; Laws; Manual safety belts; Restraint systems; Safety; Seats; Tests; Vehicle rear end
• Uncontrolled Terms: Front; Position; Rear
• Geographic Terms: United Kingdom
• Old TRIS Terms: Minors; Passenger restraints; Rearward facing child seat; Seat (Car)
• ITRD Terms: 3420: Anchorage; 1758: Child; 5238: Defect (tech); 9025: Front; 3840: Installation; 9061: Location; 1466: Passive safety system; 9067: Rear; 1665: Safety; 1476: Safety belt; 1388: Seat (veh); 6255: Test; 8119: United Kingdom
• Subject Areas: Construction; Highways; Law; Maintenance and Preservation; Safety and Human Factors; Vehicles and Equipment; I91: Vehicle Design and Safety;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 00159848
• Record Type: Publication
• Source Agency: Transport and Road Research Laboratory (TRRL)
• Report/Paper Numbers: Analytic
• Files: ITRD, TRIS
• Created Date: Feb 16 1978 12:00AM