Strength of Materials: Child Car Seat Safety Analysis Report

This report investigates the safety of child car seats, focusing on standards, testing, and consumer protection in New Zealand. It begins by highlighting the importance of child car seats in preventing injuries and fatalities during car accidents, emphasizing the forces involved in collisions and the pot...Read More

STRENGTH OF MATERIALS
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Introduction
The design of the seats within the car is normally done in a manner that addresses the carrying
capacity of the average body size of an adult. However, the safety standards and requirement
have resorted to grouping of Individuals in various categories.It is through this focus that child
car seats were invented for use and subsequent introduction of the infant car seats. Child car
seats have been in use for a long time now in New Zealand. These components were introduced
to ensure that lives are saved during minor and even major collisions.
Studies have indicated that any collision that happens with the car can potentially cause harm or
results into death. Studies have also indicated the presence of a burn that can be caused by these
same car seats meant for adults if used by children during the long drive. This happens during
hot weather. It is a common occurrence that passengers will always surge forward whenever the
driver brakes suddenly. The force that surges people forward is equivalent to almost thirty to
sixty times the weight of an individual(Macy, Cunningham, Resnicow & Freed 2014). This
implies that there have to be proper measures put in place to ensure that children are safe from
such effects.
In such events, the child car seats can effectively provide a solution in sequence from the start to
end of the journey. Despite the contribution of child car seats to the development of executive
car design in New Zealand; its use has been characterized by failures that result in very fatal
accidents. There are different accidents of the child car seats that affect the guests of the hotel
and other users. All these types of failure of child car seats can be attributed to the specific cause
once an investigation is carried out.
A case study of an accident involving a child car seat in New Zealand

A system is as good as its implementation. It is regrettable that some of the cases of the accidents
that have been diagnosed by the health care professionals in regard to child car seats have never
been reported to the concerned authorities. This has led to the slow rate of safety enhancement,
especially in New Zealand. The recent issue of Pediatrics & Child Health has involved
publications that highlight the potential hazards though rare associated with the child car seats.
There is a description by Mohair et al. about a burn to the infant that was caused by a child car
seat during the long drive when the weather was hot.
Also in the illustration is a case by Singhal et al which discusses the details that led to the death
of two children after being left to continue sleeping while on the child car seats. The potential
harm that has been comprehensively discussed in these articles must be properly balanced in
consideration of their advantages. It may be possible that the cases described by Moharir et al.
are just but a sample of very many cases that have never been documented in relation to the
burns.
Consumer Protection
Despite the fact that the child car seats have signals to warn on the generated heat under the
specific environmental conditions, there is still no proper documentation in the literature
research. In the cases that have been highlighted in the articles, there is no clear information as to
whether the car seat manual that has the provisions on the same. The investigations that have
been carried out by the concerned authorities revealed a lack of the necessary warnings to the
parents in regard to the protection of their infants from the safety seats that are overheated. It was
again discovered that the improper use of the child car seats is not uncommon(Van et al. 2016).

These cases became the basis of the establishment of the standards to be adhered to by the
manufacturers(Chen et al.2014). The legislation on the use of child car seat has been an
important tool in the improvement of the standard compliance by the manufacturers, According
to these standards of ISO 13216, the manufacturers have primarily the responsibility of ensuring
that the consumers understand properly the correct use of the child car seats. The policies are
very clear that the provision of manual alone may not be adequate in fulfilling the responsibility.
This extends to the provision of accessible information regarding safety on their websites as well
as publication through the health staff of the public working with the parents. The manufacturers
are further compelled to ensure that new vehicles are properly fixed with ISOFIX or LATCH
points in them what is commonly referred to as child restraint in New Zealand. This will be in
line with Rule 2004 (SR 2004/427 ... - NZ Legislation.
Child Car Seat Impact Tests
The test is properly outlined in the Child Restraints Evaluation program that is commonly known
as CREP.This program asses the crash protection performance of the child car seats. There are
basically their types of tests
 Side-impact tests
 Frontal impact tests
 Oblique impact test
Frontal impact Test
This kind of test is used in the simulation of a situation in which a child who is correctly
restrained is involved in a crash of head-on collision with another car of the same speed and
mass. The testing speed is normally at 56km/hr. with the deceleration of 34 times the gravity of

the earth’s seat of the car is evaluated in terms of its capability of retaining dummy’s head as
well as torso, reduction of forwarding and upward motions and the management of the energy of
the crash. The harness buckle must be ensured to work properly after the test(Brown et al. 2013).
Side Impact test
This kind of tests simulates a situation in which a properly restrained child in the car has been
struck from the side say 90 degrees by another car of the same mass. The testing speed involves
32km/hr. and the deceleration is 20 times that of the earth’s gravity. The evaluation of the car is
in terms of its capability to have a dummy's head retained as well as the torso. Also, the
maintenance of the structural integrity is checked.
Oblique impact tests
This test simulates a situation in which a properly restrained child in the car seat experiences a
struck at an angle say 66 degrees by another car of the same mass. The speed of the test is
normally at 32km/hr. with the deceleration being 20 times that of the gravity of the earth. The
evaluation is on the ability of the seat to retain the head of the dummy as well as torso while
maintaining the structural integrity.
Conclusion
Although the use of child car seats is increasingly becoming popular, its use should not be at the
expanse of losing innocent lives. The manufacturers must always remain updated on the new
challenges that come with the new requirement of child car seats. The maintenance of car child
seat should be carried out regularly as per the standards of safety laid down in ISO 13216.

References
Brown, J., Keay, L., Hunter, K., Bilston, L. E., Simpson, J. M., & Ivers, R. (2013). Increase in
best practice child car restraint use for children aged 2–5 years in low socioeconomic
areas after the introduction of mandatory child restraint laws. Australian and New
Zealand journal of public health, 37(3), 272-277.
Chen, X., Yang, J., Peek-Asa, C., McGehee, D. V., & Li, L. (2014). Parents’ knowledge,
attitude, and use of child restraints, Shantou, China. American journal of preventive
medicine, 46(1), 85-88.
Macy, M. L., Cunningham, R. M., Resnicow, K., & Freed, G. L. (2014). Disparities in age-
appropriate child passenger restraint use among children aged 1 to 12
years. Pediatrics, 133(2), 262-271.
Moharir M, Niec A, Wekerle C. Burn Injury from a car seat in an 11-month-old infant. Paediatr
Child Health. 2012;17:498–500.
Singhal A, Adams E, Desapriva E. Improper use of child restraint seats as a sleeping
environment: Two cases of childhood death. Pediatr Child Health. 2012;17:495–7.
Van Ratingen, M., Williams, A., Lie, A., Seeck, A., Castaing, P., Kolke, R., ... & Miller, A.
(2016). The European new car assessment programme: a historical review. Chinese
Journal of Traumatology, 19(2), 63-69.