On the basis of new accident material of the German Motor Insurers (593 restrained children aged 0 to 12 years involved in 448 car accidents) the injury risk of children being belted with an adult belt only is compared to injury risks of children being restrained in different child restraint system (CRS) types. These types are: 4/5-point belt, 3-point belt, impact shield, and booster cushion. The form of restraint "child with an adult belt only" involves disproportionately high risks. In retrospective accident studies it is relatively difficult to get detailed information about the frequency and the exact kind of CRS misuse. Therefore, 250 CRS users were observed and interviewed. Only in one third of these observations the CRS were correctly mounted. Depending on different CRS types the misuse rates lay between 20 and 90%. To check up the effect of the most frequent and most severe kinds of misuse 20 crash tests with wrong fitted CRS were carried out. For this reason, tests with an ECE sled and with a cut-off car body have been performed. Depending on the CRS type a partly considerable reduction of the CRS safety effect could be observed in case of misuse. Protection against misuse by a proper design has to be given highest priority for the safety improvement of future CRS. (A)
Abstract