In spite of the generally downward trend in the number of people injured in road accidents in the Federal Republic of Germany (original federal states), the number of children injured as passengers in passenger cars has not decreased over the last few years. In 1990, 13,890 children were injured travelling as passengers in passenger cars. That was the highest number since 1981 [1].
A study has revealed that the risk of unprotected (without the use of child restraint systems) children incurring serious injury while travelling in passenger cars is seven times as great as that of protected children [ 2 ]. Nevertheless, several cases are known of children in front-facing child restraint systems (CRS) receiving neck injuries in frontal collisions leading to tetraplegia (simultaneous paralysis of all four limbs). In most cases, these injuries occurred with children up to an age of eighteen months.
Child restraint systems do provide basic protection for children in frontal collisions, and a testing regulation (ECE-R 44) is available. However, the most recent accident studies have revealed that children in CRS are more often injured in side than in frontal collisions.
For this reason, this paper is on the one hand concerned with testing measuring procedures in respect of forces and moments in the necks of child dummies, and on the other with possible CRS tests in side impact.
The investigation is based on the classic child group I, in other words, CRS for children between the ages of nine months and three years.