A preliminary evaluation of child restraints and anchorage systems for an Australian car

wbldb

Charlton, Judith L.¹; Fildes, Brian¹; Laemmle, Ronald¹; Smith, Stuart²; Douglas, Fiona²

A preliminary evaluation of child restraints and anchorage systems for an Australian car

48th Annual Proceedings, Association for the Advancement of Automotive Medicine (AAAM)

Affiliations

¹Monash University Accident Research Centre, Clayton, Australia

²Holden Australia, Melbourne, Australia
Abstract

This study examined the performance of three rear-facing and two forward-facing child restraints (CRS) with three anchorage systems: standard seatbelt, LATCH (flexible) and ISOFIX (rigid). Frontal (64 km/h) and side impact (15 km/h) HyGe sled tests were conducted using a sedan buck. Overall, the preliminary findings suggested superior performance of rigid over seatbelt and flexible anchorages, particularly in side impacts. The results also suggest a need for design improvement for CRS with flexible anchorages to increase stability in side impacts. The findings have important implications for the proposed introduction of changes to Australian Standards for CRS to permit both flexible and rigid systems to coexist with conventional seatbelt anchorage systems.

Cited Works (10)

Year	Entry
2003	Charlton JL, Fildes B, Olsson T, Truedsson N, Smith S, Kobus J, Kelly P. Evaluation of child restraints for Holden Commodores. In: Proceedings of the 18th International Technical Conference on the Enhanced Safety of Vehicles (ESV). May 19-22, 2003; Nagoya, Japan.
1987	Tingvall C. Children in cars: some aspects of the safety of children as car passengers in road traffic accidents. Acta Paediatr Scand. October 1987;76(suppl 339):1-35.
2001	Paine M, Vertsonis H. Surveys of child restraint use in New South Wales. In: Proceedings of the 17th International Technical Conference on the Enhanced Safety of Vehicles (ESV). June 4-7, 2001; Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
2002	Lowne R, Le Claire M, Roy P, Paton I. Dedicated child attachment system (ISOFix). Traffic Inj Prev. 2002;3(1):19-29.
1994	Henderson M, Brown J, Paine M. Injuries to restrained children. In: 38th Annual Proceedings, Association for the Advancement of Automotive Medicine (AAAM). September 21-23, 1994; Lyon, France.75-87.
1995	Kelly P, Brown J, Griffiths M. Child restraint performance in side impacts with and without top tethers and with and without rigid attachment (CANFIX). In: Proceedings of the 1995 International IRCOBI Conference on the Biomechanics of Impact. September 13-15, 1995; Brunnen, Switzerland.75-90.
1997	Isaksson-Hellman I, Jakobsson L, Gustafsson C, Norin H. Trends and effects of child restraint systems based on Volvo's Swedish accident database. In: Proceedings of the 2nd Child Occupant Protection Symposium. November 12, 1997; Orlando, FL.43-54. SAE 973299.
1998	Newgard C, Jolly BT. A descriptive study of pediatric injury patterns from the national automotive sampling system. In: 42nd Annual Proceedings, Association for the Advancement of Automotive Medicine (AAAM). October 5-7, 1998; Charlottesville, VA.1-14.
1988	Agran PF, Winn DG. Injuries among 4 to 9 year old restrained motor vehicle occupants by seat location and crash impact site. In: 32nd Annual Proceedings, Association for the Advancement of Automotive Medicine (AAAM). September 12-14, 1988; Seattle, WA.39-51.
1995	Khaewpong N, Nguyen TT, Bents FD, Eichelberger MR, Gotschall CS, Morrissey R. Injury severity in restrained children in motor vehicle crashes. In: Proceedings of the 39th Stapp Car Crash Conference. November 8-10, 1995; San Diego, CA. Warrendale, PA: Society of Automotive Engineers:403-423. SAE 952711.

Cited By (5)

Year	Entry
2007	Charlton JL, Fildes B, Taranto D, Laemmle R, Smith S, Clark A. Performance of booster seats in side impacts: effect of adjacent passengers and isofix attachment. In: 51st Annual Proceedings, Association for the Advancement of Automotive Medicine (AAAM). October 15-17, 2007; Melbourne, Australia.155-167.
2017	Hauschild HW, Humm JR, Arbogast KB, Maltese MR, Pintar FA, Yoganandan N, Kaufman B. Protection of children in child restraint systems in oblique impacts: relative motion of the child and child restraint. In: Proceedings of the 25th International Technical Conference on the Enhanced Safety of Vehicles (ESV). June 5-8, 2017; Detroit, MI.
2022	Brenander E. Every Child’s Inherent Right to Ride Safely in Cars: A Design Proposal Accommodating Child Protection in the Standard Vehicle Design [Master's thesis]. Linnaeus University; June 10, 2022.
2008	Brown J. The Aetiology and Mechanisms of Serious Injury in Restrained Child Occupants [PhD thesis]. University of New South Wales; 2008.
in press	Hauschild HW. Rear-Facing Child Restraint Device Performance in Side Impact Crashes [Master's thesis]. University of Wisconsin – Whitewater.