National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) Indefinite Quantities Contract: Building on the Findings of Partners for Child Passenger Safety
The Partners for Child Passenger Safety (PCPS) database is the largest available source of information on children in motor vehicle crashes. As a result, the PCPS database is an ideal source data for the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) to use in determining regulation and policy. NHTSA currently provides funding for the Center to conduct research several “Task Orders” across a wide range of research topics including: Abdominal injury to seat belt-restrained children; improving anthropomorphic test dummies (ATD) to more accurately represent the biokinetics of a human child; examining the risk of injury to center-rear seated children using lap-only or lap-shoulder belts; restraint use patterns based on vehicle model and year; effectiveness of built-in child restraint systems; and developing interventions to improve booster seat use in at-risk populations.
NHTSA Task Order 1: Identifying Interventions that Promote Child Restraint Use
Through research funded by the National Highway Safety Administration (NHTSA), Center researchers documented factors that affected the intention to use belt-positioning booster seat for parents of children ages 4-8 years. At the start of the research in 2000, nearly all US families were at-risk for premature graduation of children from car seats to seat belts. Today, booster seat use in the US has increased significantly, and researchers are seeking to develop interventions that target remaining at-risk populations.
NHTSA Task Order 2: Anton’s Law: Safety Definition
The objective of Task Order Two was to assist NHTSA in achieving the requirements laid out by Anton’s Law [embedded link] passed in 2003 to improve federal standards and performance requirements for booster seats for children between the ages of 4 and 8. In order to achieve this objective, NHTSA contracted Center researchers with four specific research objectives:
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Identify Injury/Fatality Patterns for Children Weighing more than 50 Pounds
One of the requirements of Anton’s Law was to address situations in which children over 50 pounds are riding in vehicles where they only have access lap-only belts, as opposed to lap-shoulder belts. Overall, Center researchers found that children using lap-only belts were twice as likely to be injured as those using lap/shoulder belts.
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Development of Anthropomorphic Test Device (ATD) Simulating a 10-Year-Old Child Study Sample
The goal of this analysis was to determine how children of the appropriate age and size for an average 10-year-old were being injured or killed when using current child restraint technology, and to compare the injury patterns for these children according to their restraint status. These data provide insight into how children between 9-12 years of age, weighing 60- 90 lbs. (a representation of the 10 year-old ATD), are currently injured in motor vehicle crashes.
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Lap/Shoulder Belts in the Center Rear: Occupancy Patterns, Use Patterns, and Performance
The purpose of this analysis was to assess the performance and use of lap/shoulder belts in rear center seating positions and identify any trends in the data to support/negate the inclusion of lap/shoulder belts for all rear seating positions within the provisions of Anton’s Law. Among the Center’s key findings was that belted children in the center rear in vehicles equipped with a lap/shoulder belt are 81% less likely to sustain a serious injury than those seated in the center rear equipped with a lap-only belt system.
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Built-in Child Restraint Systems: Use Patterns and Performance
Anton’s Law also mandated that NHTSA evaluate integrated or built- in child restraints and boosters seats, in part, based on the availability of real-world crash data. Typically, built-in restraints are designed for use for children weighing 20 to 60 lbs. Center researchers did not find any enhanced performance of built-in child restraints over add-on restraints. Head injuries were the most common injuries in all restraint types, and for those in harness-based systems, lower extremity injuries were also more prominent.
NHTSA Task Order 3: Linking Abdominal Impulse Ratio (AIR) to Pediatric Abdominal Injury
To address the large number of pediatric abdominal injuries associated with premature graduation from child restraints to seat belts, NHTSA is considering the inclusion abdominal criterion into regulations related to child anthropomorphic dummies (ATD) and child restraint safety. The purpose of this task order is to validate AIR as an accurate measurement tool for simulating abdominal belt-load in the 10-year old dummy and to identify a threshold for abdominal injury for use in NHTSA’s testing of restraint performance.
NHTSA Task Order 4: Building on the findings of Partners for Child Passenger Safety to Develop a more Accurate Child Anthropomorphic Test Dummy (ATD)
Task Order 4 builds on a number of unrelated PCPS findings to improve different areas of interest to the NHTSA. Research objectives under Task Order 4 include:
Assess the link between AIR and pediatric abdominal injury using a 10 year-old ATD
This research addresses the issue of “seat belt syndrome” (injuries caused to the abdomen and spinal cord due to improper belt fit) in older children. The research being conducted by the Center in this area will help NHTSA to determine whether and how to include an abdominal criterion into regulations related to ATD and child restraint safety.Test the validity of the SIMon head injury model using scale 6 year-old ATD data
This analysis aims to determine the validity of a NHTSA-developed software package- Simulated Injury Monitor, or SIMon- which is currently used to measure head and knee injury mechanisms in adults, for use in evaluating head injury in children.Improve the Accuracy of Pediatric Thoracic Stiffness in the child ATD
The child anthropomorphic test device (ATD) or crash test dummy is largely developed by size-scaling adult crash dummies down to child-size, with minimal consideration for the structural differences between a mature body and a developing one. This study aims to develop a child ATD with a more human-like chest.Evaluate Passive Range of Motion of the Pediatric Cervical Spine
Neck range of motion is an important factor in determining the potential for and severity of pediatric head injury in motor vehicle crashes. This analysis aims to determine the sub-injurious range of motion for the pediatric head and neck. This data will be used to design a guideline for developing a more accurate child ATD.