The report covers the final design and implementation plan for evaluating the effectiveness of FMVSS 202: Head Restraints, and FMVSS 207: Seating Systems. The plan for the evaluation study considers measurability criteria, alternate statistical techniques, laboratory tests, data availability/collectability, resource requirements, work schedule and other factors. The overall purpose of FMVSS 202 is to reduce the frequency and severity of neck injury in rear end and other collisions. This purpose is to be achieved by establishing requirements for head restraints in passenger cars. The overall purpose of FMVSS 207 is to reduce the incidence of seat failures and their contributions to fatalities and injuries. This purpose is to be achieved by establishing strength requirements for seating systems and requiring a self-locking restraining device for folding seat backs. The integrated plan for evaluating the effectiveness of these two Standards, as described, contains eight separate evaluation programs. One program focuses on neck injury insurance claims. Another employs detailed accident data to evaluate both head restraints and seating systems. A third program analyzes fatalities to investigate the effects of self-locking seat backs. The fourth and fifth programs evaluate mass accident data and newly collected head restraint usage data. Both Standards are evaluated with laboratory tests in the sixth program, and through instrumenting vehicles in the field in the seventh program. The eighth program is for cost data acquisition.
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