Influence of Vehicle Restraint System Design on the Kinematics and Neck Forces of a Rear Seat Small Occupant

In 2008, motor vehicle collisions resulted in 968 child occupant fatalities and 193,000 seriously injured children, ages 14 years old and younger, according to the most recent data provided by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) [1]. In fact, motor vehicle collisions are the leading cause of death for all children ages 3 to 14 years old living in the United States [1]. As children grow older they require size-appropriate restraint types to fit their body at each developmental level. For older children, booster seats are not a total solution for child safety as they are often dependent on the design of the vehicle seat belt system (2). Additionally, there is no federal standard that requires vehicle manufacturers to dynamically test the performance of child seats of any type in their vehicles.