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This paper provides a detailed review of the testing procedures utilized for FMVSS 216a - Roof Crush Resistance and by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS). This new FMVSS 216a standard, announced by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) on April 30, 2009, will result in significantly stronger roof structures. The standard specified four major changes: 1) The maximum applied force must equal three times the unloaded vehicle weight for vehicles with a gross vehicle weight rating of 6,000 pounds or less, 2) The standard is expanded to include vehicles with a gross vehicle weight rating between 6,000 and 10,000 pounds, 3) Head room maintenance is monitored through the use of a head form representing a 50th percentile male seated in the front occupant positions, and 4) The platen force, displacement, and head form contact requirements must be met on both sides of the vehicle's roof structure.

Recently, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) issued a final rule [1] for a new safety standard related to child safety seats and their anchorage systems in vehicles. Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard (FMVSS) 225 - “Child Restraint Systems; Child Restraint Anchorage Systems” requires that motor vehicle manufacturers provide a new method for installing child restraints using anchorage systems that are standardized and independent of the vehicle seat belts. The new standard was developed because it is recognized that the full effectiveness of child restraint systems is not being realized due to design features affecting the compatibility of child restraints with vehicle seating and seat belt systems. By requiring an easy-to-use anchorage system that is independent of the vehicle seat belts, the NHTSA believes that the final rule makes possible more effective child restraint installation and will thereby increase child restraint effectiveness and child safety.