Car Seat Info

Message from Top Car Seat Safety Researcher

From: "Kathleen Weber" 
Organization: UMTRI
To: Elizabeth Lane Lawley 
Date: Wed, 26 Feb 1997 15:21:48 -0500
Subject: Re: Large Infants Rear-Facing?
Priority: normal

You have fortunately hit me at a good time.  Others are trying to  
deal with this issue in publications, and the manufacturers are 
trying to deal with the restrictions imposed by the Child Restraint 
standard.

First some background.  Child restraints are officially tested with
a 9-month size dummy, which weighs 20 lb, and/or a 3-year size
dummy, which weighs 33 lb.  There is no official dummy in between. 
There are, however, dummies of 22 and 25 lbs that are often used by
manufacturers to provide further testing information, and we
sometimes put weight on existing dummies to bring them to specific
weight levels.  The standard is actually quite old and assumes that 
it is reasonable to face a child forward at 20 lbs.  Only recently, 
this number was changed, but only to 22 lbs and only for the
higher-backed convertible restraints (rear and forward facing), not
for the smaller infant-only ones.

We now know that 20 or 22 lbs by itself is not sufficient criteria 
for facing forward, and that age seems to be a better predictor of 
neck strength, with 1 year being a reasonable, but not entirely 
reliable, transition point.  European thinking is that this should be 
increased further to 1.5 years, and the Swedes have always said 3 
years, but we will be happy if we can keep kids rear-facing to our 
new recommendations in the near future.  The next problem is 
producing child restraints that satisfy both the standard (which is 
very difficult to change, especially adding a dummy) and this 
recommendation.

As a consequence of this need, the standard has been interpreted to
say that, if a manufacturer wants to certify its restraint
rear-facing to anyting over (formerly) 20 lbs or (now) 22 lbs, it
must pass the crash test, rear-facing, with the next largest dummy,
which is the 3-year.  This clearly leaves out the small infant-only
restraints, but does leave the possibility open for convertibles.
Over the years, we and others have tested various convertibles with
25 and 33 lb dummies, and nearly all are fine with 25, and some can
even manage with 33. The test is conducted on a flat bench seat with
nothing in front of it, unlike the real world where you almost can't
get a convertible into most back seats.  So, in fact, if you use a
convertible restraint, face it rearward and rest it against the back
of the front seat, you have a perfectly good restraint that can't go
anywhere for any kid who can fit in it (head not over the top of the
back).  No one can officially tell you to do this, least of all the
manufacturers, but it's what I would do with my own child, and that's
what counts. 

This whole thing is very frustrating for us and confusing to the 
public, and we are dismayed that NHTSA (the govt agency responsible) 
has responded so slowly and inadequately to this need.  There are a 
few convertibles being certified and labeled now to 25 or 30 lbs, 
including the SmartMove and the Medallion, and there will be more in 
the future, but I'm not sure just when you will see these on shelves.

Well, it's not a simple answer, but I hope it gives you some better 
insight into the problem and the solution.  Let me know if I can 
explain anything further.

Kathleen Weber
Child Passenger Protection
University of Michigan

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