The Dutch Ministry of Transport and Public Works commissioned the SWOV Institute for Road Safety Research and TNO Road-Vehicles Research Institute to carry out a research project. The aim is to establish the extent and type of misuse of both child seats and standard seat belts. This paper deals only with child seats (child restraints). In the first stage of the project, a method for measuring misuse was defined. Assessments of injury potential were based on accepted criteria, in combination with both knowledge derived from extensive laboratory testing and with accident data. A special form and a rating system were developed in order to judge the overall severity of misuse. In the second stage, a field study was conducted at parking areas of shopping centres, roadside restaurants, and theme parks such as zoos. The use of child restraints in the cars of the visitors was observed by trained technical students. Data on some 500 child seats were collected. Considering the overall results, the degree of misuse of child seats was considerable. Serious errors were noted for almost 70% of the seats. Recommendations are given concerning an internationally accepted and standardised method for measuring the misuse of child restraints.
Abstract