The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) announced a new test dummy yesterday in an effort to further improve its crash testing procedures.

The new dummy weighs 74 pounds and is meant to simulate a child nearing the maximum recommended size for a car seat: 80 pounds. That figure was recently revised by NHTSA, where the group previously suggested children shoudl remain in car steats until their grew past 4 feet, 9 inches tall or were older than eight.

“Our new dummy is an excellent addition to NHTSA’s extensive child seat compliance testing program and will enable the agency to gather the best data yet on the performance of higher-weight child seats,” said David Strickland, NHTSA Administrator.”Even as we begin to reap the benefits of this new tool, NHTSA is already looking down the road and has research under way to further improve the dummy.”

Scientific studies suggesting heavier weight recommendations for children remaining in auxiliary restraints like car seats caused a shift in statistics as children remained in them later. That in turn forced NHTSA to add the dummy meant to mimic a typical 10-year-old child.

“It’s good news that manufacturers are making more car seats and boosters than ever before designed to keep older and heavier children safer on our roadways,” said U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood. “The new test dummy breaks new ground for the Department’s crash test program and is a significant step forward for evaluating child seat performance.”

When you strap your child into a car seat, you think that they are safe because these seats have safety standards, right? Sorry to burst that bubble, but if you’re strapping kids weighing more than 65 pounds to a booster seat, they don’t come with any government safety standards. And even seats for younger children are regulated only for their effectiveness in front-end collisions.

So what’s the problem? It turns out it lies with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. They haven’t developed a lifelike child crash test dummy, which is needed to properly test the safety of seats built for heavier children. Until then, child seat manufacturers are left to self-regulate their car seats, instead of following guidelines instituted to protect children in front, side, rear-end and rollover accidents.

The problem, says safety experts, is the lack of funding for research and development into lifelike child test dummies. With the rise of overweight children, seats made just a few years ago to hold children up to 65 pounds are now marketed for those up to 85 pounds.

[Source: The Washington Post]

It’s time to double check your car seats. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) is saying that many young children are still being placed in the wrong restraint or booster seat systems.

Last week was Child Passenger Safety week, so now is the right time to ensure that you have the right car seat for your child. It’s also important that these safety seats have been inspected to make sure they’re working properly.

NHTSA 2009 stats show that child fatalities from motor vehicle crashes were the leading cause of death for children ages 3 to 14. Last year, an average of four children age 14 and younger were killed and 490 were injured every day.

“Make no mistake about it: child safety seats save lives,” said U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood. “Children who graduate too soon from their safety seats are at risk of serious injury. Parents and caregivers should ensure that safety seats are installed correctly and should always use them. Their children depend on it.”

Children usually outgrow their forward-facing seats around age 4 and at about 40 pounds. At this time, they should graduate to booster seats until the seat belts in the vehicle fit properly. You know that a seat belt fits properly when the lap belt lays across the upper thighs and the shoulder belt fits across the chest (they usually fit kids once they turn 8 or when they are 4’9″ tall).

The NHTSA released a survey on booster seat, which found that just 41 percent of 4- to 7-year-old children ride in booster seats, virtually unchanged from the prior year. In 2009, restraint use for children age 1 to 3 years increased from 92 percent in 200, while restraint use for all children under age 13 remained stayed the same at 89 percent.

[Source: Autoblog]