In this paper the injury risks to children in cars with and without protection are analysed according to age groups and accidentcharacteristics such as collision types, severity of the accident, damage to the car, accident opponent etc. To this end comprehensiveaccident material involving chidren in cars has been established: a large-scale campaign with one of Germany's major newspapers was organised, and it produced more than 3,300 reports of car accidents involving protected and unprotected children in 1988.The parents were questioned; as far as possible, a retrospective accident evaluation was carried out. Observations on biomechanical tolerance limits according to the child's age are discussed. It was ascertained which parts of the body sustained especially critical injuries, broken down according to their type and frequency. The safety effect of child protection systems was confirmed; their use, depending on the type of protection system,was analysed with regard to the children's weight. Recommendations are given for the further development of child protection systems in order to reduce the biomechanical loads, avoid incorrect operation and optimise the protection criteria