New crash test video shows importance of car seats; local safety checks planned
A new crash test video that shows one child-sized crash dummy flying through the air and another staying securely buckled in a child safety seat illustrates the importance of properly restraining young children, the Michigan Office of Highway Safety Planning says.
During the test, conducted and filmed by the University of Michigan Transportation Research Institute, two 33-pound crash test dummies representing 3-year-old children were placed in the rear seat of a vehicle, one in a forward facing car seat and one completely unrestrained.
The lab test simulated a moderate-to-severe crash at about 30 mph, the OHSP said in a press release. The unrestrained dummy flies forward in the video, forcefully striking the back of the front seat, while the restrained child stays seated.
The restrained child would likely walk away with minor bruises and scrapes while the unrestrained child would likely be killed or seriously injured, said Miriam Manary, UMTRI Senior Engineering Research Associate.
While state data show that 94.2 percent of parents of children under 4 use car seats, the misuse rate is 77.8 percent, said Alyson Kechkaylo, program outreach coordinator with the Office of Highway Safety Planning.
That’s why experts encourage parents to take advantage of seat checks occurring around the state Sept. 24. The checks are part of Child Passenger Safety Week, which begins Sunday.
You can find local sites for these inspections by going to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s website and entering your ZIP code.
Comments
SM
Sat, Sep 17, 2011 : 3:09 p.m.
Extended rear facing, and extended harnessing when the child is forward faced are the safest ways to restrain your child in a vehicle. "From 1992 through June 1997, only 9 children properly restrained rear-facing died in motor vehicle crashes in Sweden, and all of these involved catastrophic crashes with severe intrusion and few other survivors." <a href="http://www.carseat.se/rearfacing/rear-facing-basics/" rel='nofollow'>http://www.carseat.se/rearfacing/rear-facing-basics/</a>
joe.blow
Sat, Sep 17, 2011 : 2:41 p.m.
This is ridiculous! They compare a dummy in a car seat VS one with no restraint at all. What type of comparison is that? Who doesn't have their kid belted in some fashion? The question us parents want to know is with the different safety levels for various car seat/booster seat/ seat belt options. I hope us taxpayers didn't pay for this novel study! Next up, the safety of driving a motorcycle into a car VS driving a tank into a car.
5c0++ H4d13y
Sat, Sep 17, 2011 : 4:35 p.m.
I see plenty of kids not buckled in. It's pretty shocking.
Carole
Sat, Sep 17, 2011 : 1:20 p.m.
Agree that all safety measures should be taken while operating a car. However, what concerns me most is that there seems to be more individuals on the roads who are not paying attention to what they should be "driving safely" -- travel Jackson often and more than once have had people pull right out in front of me while chatting on their phones. I believe that along with safety devices in automobiles, we definitely need to work on making drivers more responsible.