A standard empirical test procedure, ISO 8317, was applied to the study of child restraint misuse. A pilot group of 20 parent-couples was presented with a child restraint, and observed while installing the seat. Although the particular restraint is held by experts as easy to use, two serious errors were observed:​ the object might have failed standard acceptance criteria. The study concludes that such misuse testing can be performed by lay investigators. The technique can illuminate specific product drawbacks. Potentially, such testing might be part of the product approval or certification process. At the same time, this policy calls for cautious application, as improving products for misuse prevention does not necessarily lead to better products for injury prevention.