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Small children as automobile occupants need support in normal driving at turning and braking and protection in accidents at collisions and roll-overs. Ordinary restraints, such as the adult seat belt, are less suitable for children between one and six years, mainly because the body proportions are different in children. A protective seat, adequately rigid and resistant to penetration, with a high, shock-absorbing back rest, can be placed facing rearwards in the front seat of the car. After extensive testing, such a seat is now being manufactured in Sweden.

The present situation as regards child restraints in Sweden is described. The concept of having small children travelling in rearward facing child seats in the front seat of the car is discussed, based on 15 years experience of these systems in use. Booster systems which allow the older children to use existing adult belts have been bought for more than 50% of the children the last years and some aspects of this development are presented. The development of a special booster seat for handicapped children as well as the present situation on the European legislative work are also reported.

A short review of the development of performance requirements for child restraint systems and a summary of the present situation as revealed at the recent SAE Child Injury and Restraint Conference are given in this paper. It has taken a long time to arrive at dynamic performance standards in North America as well as in Europe. The present rate of child restraint usage is encouraging and yet not sufficiently high, although more children than ever are now protected by good systems. The reported high rate of misuse of restraint systems indicates that there is need for further improvements. Efforts in this direction should take into account the standard performance requirements, the specification of child dummies, problems of convenience and the design of vehicles. A close cooperation between North America and Europe in this respect would be mutually beneficial.