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)