According to the German road traffic regulations children up to the age of 12 or a body height below 150 cm have to use approved and appropriate child restraint systems (CRS). CRS must be approved according to UN-ECE Regulation No. 44. The regulation classifies CRS in 5 body weight categories. The upper weight group is approved for children from 22 to 36 kg. However, studies show that already today many children weigh more than 36 kg although they have not reached a size of 150 cm. Therefore, no ECE R44 approved CRS is available for these "overweight" children. In conclusion, today’s sizes and weights of children are no longer represented by the current version of the ECE R44. The heaviest used dummy (P10) weighs just 32.6 kg and has a body height of 137.9 cm. Statistical data of German children show that already 5% of the children at a size of 137.9 cm have a body weight above 45.3 kg. Regarding children at a body height of 145 cm, the 95th percentile limit is at a weight of 53.3 kg. Based on these data 4 dummies with different heights and weights were defined and produced. Two of them are “overweight”.

Up to now, there is no experience how current child restraint systems perform in a car crash if they are used by children with a body weight above 36 kg and a size smaller than 150 cm. In the future, different child restraint systems will be tested with respect to the ECE R44 regulation using these “overweight” dummies.