You may be shocked to learn that side impact tests are not required for car seats. Current rules do require front and rear impact testing. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) is proposing new safety standards for child safety seats for children weighing up to 40 pounds. The agency estimates that the new rules would save five lives and prevent injuries to 64 children each year.
The New Test
The proposed test would simulate T-bone accident involving 12-month-old and three-year-old children. Car seat makers must be able to show that their safety seats prevent the child’s head from hitting the door and reduce forces to the head and chest in a side impact crash with the offending car travelling 30mph and the struck car travelling at 15mph.
Will it Help Your Child?
If the proposed standards are implemented, car seat manufacturers will have three years to meet the new rules. While improvements in the seats’ ability to provide protection are a welcome change, children will not benefit from it if their parents do not install the seats correctly.
Currently, about three out of four car seats are not properly installed. Other common child safety seat mistakes that parents and caregiver often make are changing from a rear-facing to forward-facing seat too soon, upgrading to a booster seat before the child is large enough, and strapping in kids who are wearing bulky coats or blankets which reduce the seats ability to restrain the child in a crash.
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