This paper describes the work already performed by an international task force on child restraining systems. The paper also presents the task force's on going programme. Eighteen experts from 13 teams and 7 countries are cooperating: (1) to gather together and analyze the maximum number of accident cases in which restrained children are involved; and (2) to select the most useful cases for experimental reconstructions. These will be used: (a) to check and quantify certain mechanisms; and (b) to increase knowledge of child tolerance to impact through the linkage of recorded parameters with the injuries or lack thereof in real life accidents. Five conclusions were presented concerning: (i) the risk of neck injury for children under two years of age; (ii) the discrepancies between the results in certification testing and evaluation testing in a real car environment; (iii) the use of a lap-only belt when no other child restraint is available in a car; (iv) the shield and table-shield child restraint systems; and (v) a well-designed booster which is a very effective child restraint system used only as a complement to a three-point belt.
Samenvatting