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The nature of the potentially hazardous interaction between a passenger-side airbag and a rear-facing child restraint is described, as well as the expectations regarding airbag interaction with other types of child restraint systems. Progress made in developing tools to study the problem and test criteria to evaluate possible solutions are summarized, efforts to inform the public are noted, and promising directions for dealing with the problem are addressed. Primary emphasis is placed on the work of the Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE) Child Restraint and Airbag Interaction (CRABI) Task Force and that of its members.

A sensor is described that can continuously monitor intrusion and associated pressure in the abdominal area of a child dummy. A prototype device was installed in a Part 572 3-year-old dummy and used in a series of dynamic tests with a variety of child restraint systems. The sensor was able to discriminate among different restraint configurations over a range of 0 to 55 psi. The performance differences observed, in terms of peak pressures and pressure-time waveforms, were further evaluated in relation to dummy kinematics and restraint system construction.

Two child restraint models were subjected to a series of 30-mph sled tests, using the FMVSS 213 standard procedures and the 3-year-old child dummy, except that the restraints were mounted on production vehicle seats. Lap belts were anchored at various points on a 5-in radius, 105° arc. All but one anchorage location was within the range allowed by FMVSS 210. It was concluded that child restraint structural integrity and forward excursions are degraded as belt angles become steeper and the anchorage location approaches and goes forward of the vehicle seat bight line. Recommendations are made for (a) a longitudinal limit on belt anchorage location relative to a measuring fixture developed by the SAE Children's Restraint Systems Task Force and (b) consideration by child restraint manufacturers of the effects of different belt angles on child restraint performance.

Dummy response and restraint configuration factors associated with a known child injury environment were investigated using a spinal-cord injury accident case, a full-scale reconstruction, and sled simulations. The work is one of several studies undertaken in association with the International Task Force on Child Restraining Systems to support the development of improved neck injury criteria and restraint systems for young children. A two-vehicle crash involving a restrained child occupant was investigated in detail and reconstructed in full-scale at the Transport Canada Motor Vehicle Test Centre using the CRABI 6-Month dummy. Vehicle damage and crush characteristics closely resembled that of the case vehicles. Dummy instrumentation included head and chest accelerometers and upper and lower neck transducers. The case occupant had been facing forward and had sustained a contusion of the spinal cord at T2 that resulted in paraplegia.