Over 50 years ago, child restraint devices were introduced in motor vehicles. With the advent of Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard No. 213 in 1971, child restraint devices, such as hook—type seats which were hooked over or under the vehicle seat back, were eliminated. The function of these early devices was to raise a child to better observe outside of the car and/or to prevent the child from falling on the floor of the automobile during a sharp turn or sudden stop. Since 1 1971, child restraints have been designed to provide safety protection to the child occupant of a motor vehicle. In 1985, child restraints were allowed to be certified for use in motor vehicles and aircraft. The emergence of new model vehicles equipped with passenger side air bags, along with new technologies of vehicle seats and belts, raised some questions about the potential negative effect on the effectiveness of child restraint systems in motor vehicles. Similarly, the effectiveness of child restraint systems may be hampered by technological and design considerations associated with other vehicles‘ environments such as aircraft and school buses.

This paper discusses some of the critical factors affecting the design of MULTI-MODAL use of child restraint systems (CRS). The paper summarizes the results of a research effort conducted by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) to determine the effects of available space for head and knee movement of the child occupant, belt anchor point locations, belt angle and routing on the dynamic performance of surrogate child occupant of various child restraints placed in motor vehicle and aircraft seats. Findings of this testing indicate that the current fleet of motor vehicles has adequate average available space for head and knee displacement. On the other hand, the testing indicates that some belt anchor point locations and belt routing configurations result in excessive displacement of the head and high potential for head injury of the child occupant when restrained in some motor vehicles and aircraft seats. This paper emphasizes the importance of incorporating into the design process the interfacing of child restraints with the passenger compartment environments. Alternative courses of action are presented for providing safety protection for children traveling in motor vehicles and aircraft.