This paper summarizes the results of a research effort conducted by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) to determine the effects on child restraint systems by deploying air bags. The research consisted of identifying potential interaction problems and dynamically testing combinations of air bags and child restraint systems. Findings of this testing indicate that deploying passenger side air bags tend to increase substantially the head and chest accelerations of child dummies restrained in rear-facing child restraint systems. The testing also indicates that the values of these accelerations tend to decrease when the child restraint system is placed in a forward facing configuration. The paper also configuration. The paper also discusses actions that the agency undertook to address the potential negative interaction of passenger side air bags and rear-facing child restraint systems. (A)
Abstract