The development of child restraints from the 1960s has led today to designs that are attached to the car structure using the adult belt system, sometimes with supplementary straps, or by special attachment methods which are specific to a certain vehicle model or limited range of models. The use of the adult belt is intended to make the fitment universal. However, adult belts and the location of their anchorages are designed for the use by adults. This causes problems in the fit and satifactory performance of some child restraints in some cars. In addition, the complex and variable routing of the belt on the cild restraint results in a high level of misuse. The concept of a simple plug-in system of attachment has been considered by the International Standards Organisation Working Group. In the UK, a consortium of car and restraint manufacturers and research organisations has been studying the requirements for such a system taking into account the range of car seat dimensions and child restraint types as a contribution to the ISO work. This paper describes the results of this study and gives the UK recommendations.
Samenvatting