Misuse of restraint systems for children in the Netherlands

Schoon, C. C.; Huijskens, C. G.; Heijkamp, A. H.

Affiliations

¹SMOV Institute for Road Safety Research, Leidschendam, The Netherlands

²TNO Road Vehicles Research Institute, Delft, The Netherlands

³Ministry of Transport and Public Works, Department of Transportation and Traffic Research (DVK), Rotterdam, The Netherlands

Abstract

Road authorities in the Netherlands stimulate the use -more specifically, the correct use- of restraint systems. A clear insight into the frequency and type of misuse is important for better design of safety devices, for legislation and for adequate public information.

Commissioned by the Ministry for Transport and Publics Works, the SMOV and IW-TNO have carried out a research project to establish the extenta nd type of misuse of childs seats and standard seat belts. This paper deals only with child seats (childrestraints).

Ing the first stage of the project, a method for measuring misuse was defined. Assessments of injury potential were based on accepted criteria in combination with knowledge derived from extensive laboratory testing and accident data.

A special formand and a rating system were developed to judge the overall severity of misuse.

In the second stage, a field study was conducted at parking areas of shopping centres, roadside restaurants and theme parks such as zoos. The use of child restraints in the cars of the visitors was observed by trained technical students. Data on some 5OO childseats were collected.

Considering the overall results, the degree of misuse of childseats was considerable: for almost 70% of seats, serious errors were noted. Recommendations are given concerning an internationally accepted and standardised method of measuring the misuse of childrestraints.

Cited Works (1)

Year	Entry
1986	Kahane CJ. An Evaluation of Child Passenger Safety: The Effectiveness and Benefits of Safety Seats. Washington, DC: National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA); February 1986. NHTSA Technical Report DOT HS 806 890.

Cited By (5)

Year	Entry
1997	Hummel T, Langwieder K, Finkbeiner F, Hell W. Injury risks, misuse rates and the effect of misuse depending on the kind of child restraint system. In: Proceedings of the 2nd Child Occupant Protection Symposium. November 12, 1997; Orlando, FL.165-180. SAE 973309.
2004	Peden M, Scurfield R, Sleet D, Mohan D, Hyder AA, Jarawan E, Mathers C, eds. World Report on Road Traffic Injury Prevention. Geneva, Switzerland: World Health Organization; 2004.
2003	Langwieder K, Hummel T, Finkbeiner F, Roselt T. The significance of isofix in reducing misuse: analysis of potential on the basis of field observations and sled tests. In: Proceedings of the 18th International Technical Conference on the Enhanced Safety of Vehicles (ESV). May 19-22, 2003; Nagoya, Japan.
1992	Janssen EG, Huijskens CG, Beusenberg MC. Reduction in seat belt effectiveness due to misuse. In: Proceedings of the 1992 International IRCOBI Conference on the Biomechanics of Impact. September 9-11, 1992; Verona, Italy.337-355.
1993	Huijskens CG, Janssen EG, Verschut R. The influence of asymmetrical lower belt anchorage locations on the crash performance of child restraint systems. In: Proceedings of the 1993 International IRCOBI Conference on the Biomechanics of Impact. September 8-10, 1993; Eindhoven, The Netherlands.407-420.