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The present situation as regards child restraints in Sweden is described. The concept of having small children travelling in rearward facing child seats in the front seat of the car is discussed, based on 15 years experience of these systems in use. Booster systems which allow the older children to use existing adult belts have been bought for more than 50% of the children the last years and some aspects of this development are presented. The development of a special booster seat for handicapped children as well as the present situation on the European legislative work are also reported.

After 12 years since the introduction and approx. 500 approvals according to ECE Regulation 44 on Child Restraint Systems a major revision is now being done. The revision is scheduled to be completed in 1993. The main features of the update are: Better Definitions and instructions Air Bag interaction Mandatory strong crotch straps Higher buckle opening forces New mass group and dummy More realistic dynamic testing Compatibility checks on vehicle seating positions Side impacts Various other improvements Conformity of production Longer term solutions dependant on ISO The paper will present an update on some of the most interesting parts of this work.

This paper will summarise the experience of four years activities in the International Standardization Organisation (ISO) working group on child restraint systems in road vehicles. The background for the formation of the working group will be explained. The initial discussion of possible working areas and their priority will be reviewed. It was found that the principal, most urgent areas for investigation of possible future safety standards were compatibility and misuse. Within these areas, the results will be explained in detail, and what possible future Standards or Technical Reports can be foreseen as a result of the work of this ISO working group.

Even though child restraint systems (CRS) are very effective there are still serious problems because of non-use or misuse. This is often due to the fact that the installation of the CRS in the cars is difficult, complicated and unstable. A standardised interface between the CRS and the car seat would solve these problems. Within the IS0 Committee ISO/TC22/SC12NVGl this item has been raised and several proposals for an “ISOFIX have been discussed. Apart from the installation aspects, other features e.g. disconnection of passenger airbags can be included in the system. Several concepts called ISOFlX type 1 to 7 with different working names e.g. DELTAFIX, EASY-FIX, MONOFIX and UNlFlX have been evaluated. The handling performance of some of the prototypes have been tested by customer evaluation with very positive results. Crash performance has also been investigated. The paper will give an update on the latest progress of this development, including a preliminary specification.

The level at which forces are transmitted from the striking vehicle in side impacts may influence the response of the struck car in several different ways. A better contact between the front bumper of the striking and the sill area of the struck car has been considered to be desirable in this respect. In side impacts, the most frequent direction of the impact is from 3 and 9 o'clock, while the direction of the forces is usually from 2 and 10 o'clock due to the velocity of the struck car. A European car and the EEVC moving deformable barrier have, therefore, been used in a crabbed mode to study the problem of load transfer at different levels above the ground. Volvo and Saab cars were used as targets in 55 km/h side impact with an APROD-81 side impact dummy placed on the struck side in the front seat. The results indicate that a difference in the level at which the loads were applied could influence the deformations, the kinematics of the struck cars, and the loading of the occupant.