Britax

Side Impact Protection and Children

An article titled Side Impact Crashes: Physics 101 was published in the March Extranotes and the April CPS Express. This discussed understanding injury, managing energy and minimizing risk. With this article I would like to identify testing methods relative to both motor vehicles and child restraint systems (CRS).

Child restraints are manufactured in accordance with Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard (FMVSS) 213. FMVSS 213 includes testing of child restraints in a frontal impact. Currently, there are no standards or guidelines in the United States for child restraints that include side impact crashes.

While there are no regulatory standards or guidelines for testing child restraints in side impact, the following test methods are in place for vehicles: (a) FMVSS 214 – Side Impact Protection (regulatory requirement), (c) New Car Assessment Program (NCAP) (not a regulatory requirement) and (d) Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) Lateral Test (not a regulatory requirement).

Vehicle manufacturers offer equipment such as side curtain airbags in vehicles to protect the occupant usually starting with the 5th percentile female weighing 105 lbs. Typically it is acceptable to place a CRS next to a side curtain airbag (unless directed otherwise by the vehicle or CRS manufacturer) because a child properly secured in a properly installed CRS would have little to no interaction with a side curtain airbag that is deployed. We as adults put our selves at greater risk when we sleep and lean on side curtain airbags (in the event of deployment of course).

Besides Australia and New Zealand, there are no regulatory requirements concerning the crash protection of restrained children in lateral collisions. Test procedures for consumer information include (a) International Organization for Standardization (ISO) Method, (b) Technical University Berlin – Side Impact Procedure of Child Restraint Systems( TUB – SIPCRS) Method, (c) Allgemeiner Deutscher Automobil-Club (ADAC) Fixed Door Method, (d) Australian Standard AS/NZS, (e) Takata Sled-on-Sled Method and (f) Britax Child Safety Inc. (BCSI) internal standard.

Keep your eyes open for the next Side Impact Protection and Children article that will provide additional information regarding performance requirements of some of the test methods noted.

If you have any questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to contact me at Stilton@BritaxUSA.com.

Submitted by Sarah Tilton, CPS Advocate, Britax Child Safety, Inc. (Charlotte, NC)

Britax

How do I know if my child fits appropriate in their Britax convertible?

Frequently questions are asked for clarification about the proper fit of a child in a Britax convertible. It has been expressed that confusion exists from our manuals varying in format and content.

Thank you for sharing your comments! Britax has clarified the fit requirements for our convertibles. This is not a change to our recommendation – we have simply put all the information on two consecutive pages and clearly stated when a child fits and when a child doesn’t fit.

The fit requirements have been gathered in the Safety Information section under Important Harness Adjustments, pages 6-7 of the user guides. Please note there are pictograms included in the user guides and the numerical values will change based on the platform capacities – the following is the verbiage only from a current U.S. 40 lb. maximum capacity convertible:

Rear-Facing
Weight 5 – 35 pounds (2.3 – 15.9 kg).
Use rear-facing only with children:
· who weigh between 5 and 35 lbs. (2.3 – 15.9 kg.) and
· the top of the child’s head is 1” (2.5 cm.) or more below the top of the child seat (Fig. A) and
· the harness straps are in the nearest slots at or below the child’s shoulders.
If the child cannot be secured within these requirements because the child exceeds height or weight requirements, review the forward-facing guidelines on page 7.
If the child cannot be secured within these requirements because the child is too small, selection of a different child seat (such as an infant carrier) may be required.

Do NOT use the child seat rear-facing if:
· the child is less than 5 lbs. (2.3 kg.) in weight or
· the child exceeds 35 lbs. (15.9 kg.) in weight or
· the top of the head is less than 1” (2.5 cm.) from the top of the child seat (Fig. A) or
· the harness straps are in a slot above the child’s shoulders.

Forward-Facing
Weight 20 pounds (and 1 year) – 40 pounds (9.1 – 18.1kg.)
Use forward-facing only with children:
· who are at least one year of age and
· who weigh between 20 and 40 lbs. (9.1 – 18.1 kg.) and
· 40” (101.6 cm) or less in height and
· the top of the child’s ears are below the top of the child seat and
· the harness straps are in the nearest slots at or above the child’s shoulders

Do NOT use the child seat forward-facing if:
· the child is less than one year of age or
· the child is less than 20 lbs. (9.1 kg.) in weight or
· the child exceeds 40 lbs. (18.1 kg.) in weight or
· the child exceeds 40” (101.6 cm) in height or
· the top of the ears are above the top of the child seat or
· the top harness slots fall below the child’s shoulders.

Please view the complete pages referenced of current user guides by visiting our website http://www.britaxusa.com/ and then selecting User Guides under Consumer Services.

If you have any questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to contact me at Stilton@BritaxUSA.com.

Sarah Tilton
CPS Advocate – Britax Child Safety, Inc.