Educational Materials for the Child Passenger Safety Field
News
Small babies and those with special needs due to prematurity or other medical conditions will not fit well in all car seats sold for newborns. Selection must consider both proper harness fit and the manufacturer’s lowest weight limit rating.
Read More from “Car Seat Shopping Guide for Small and Premature Infants”
Excerpted from the 2015 LATCH Manual
The following LATCH-related child restraint recalls are excerpted from the 2015 LATCH Manual* and include only those CR recalls and consumer advisories that affect CRs that are expired as of January 2017. They were omitted from the 2017 and newer LATCH Manuals because the publisher does not want to imply that users should continue to use expired child restraints.
Still a Benefit to Child Safety
In preparation for the 2017 LATCH Manual*, SRN reviewed and updated the status of various aspects of retrofitting vehicles with tether anchors (TAs), leading to the following update report.
I’d have to have my head planted firmly in the sand if my initial skepticism about self-driving vehicles hasn’t budged over time. In a few short years, what has gone from bold predictions by certain tech giants has developed into mainstream acceptance. Target dates for various rollouts of autonomous vehicles seem right around the corner, rather than in some sci-fi future. In September, the DOT released safety guidelines for autonomous vehicle performance, including a model for state policies.
Read More from “It’s Time to Think About Autonomous Vehicles”
ISBs have been an available option in the outboard seating position of some Ford and Lincoln vehicles for the past five years. Over that time, the number of Ford/Lincoln models with this option has grown (see current list, at bottom of page) and now includes both two- and three-row vehicles.
Read More from “Steps for Addressing the Use of Inflatable Seat Belts (ISBs) With CRs”
Based on a review of research related to the infant car seat challenge (ICSC), the Canadian Paediatric Society (CaPS, Canada’s version of the American Academy of Pediatrics, or AAP) has issued a revised position statement. It now says that insufficient evidence exists to recommend routine use of the ICSC as part of discharge procedures for preterm infants.
Read More from “Canada Weighs in Against Routine CR Screening of Preterm Infants”
As readers know, I am not a doctor. Occasionally, though, as CPSTs we must consider certain medical conditions that influence the safety or children as vehicle passengers. Fortunately, there’s no need for CPSTs to hold a medical degree; simply follow the advice of doctors regarding the relevant symptoms of a diagnosis and how they might influence a child’s safety (either in a crash or during normal riding). To guide us, we are fortunate to have peer-reviewed scientific studies and policy statements from the medical community.
Read More from “Debate in the NICU Continues: What’s a CPST to Think When Doctors Disagree?”
SRN recently heard from Carma McKinnon, Idaho’s CPS coordinator located at Lemhi County Sheriff’s Department, regarding concerns over ATVs and UTVs. ATVs (all-terrain vehicles, aka quads) and UTVs (utility-task vehicles, aka side-by-sides, recreational off-road vehicles, or ROVs) are used by families across the country for both recreation and work purposes, but can be extremely dangerous to children.
McKinnon noted that ATVs and UTVs are very popular in her state, and this seems to be the case across the country, with the largest sales volumes found in rural areas, especially in the South and Midwest. Sales have grown substantially over the past 10 years. Based on data from the Motorcycle Industry Council and the Specialty Equipment Market Association, roughly 250,000 ATVs are sold in the U.S. each year. Sales of UTVs have been even hotter; this newer market entry has surpassed ATVs in sales, with around 400,000 currently sold per year. Sales of these vehicles fluctuate with the strength of the economy, so they may vary widely from year to year.
Nissan/Infiniti is recalling 3,177,645 cars in the U.S. due to continuing problems with the vehicles’ Occupant Protection Classification (OPC) software, which determines whether the front passenger air bag should deploy based on whether an occupant is present and that occupant’s size.
Read More from “Nissan/Infiniti Issues Two Recalls Affecting Children”
Safe Kids provides a multitude of resources to assist local programsOn March 29, Safe Kids held its fifth annual Heatstroke Town Hall meeting. This meeting, which is meant to prepare partners for the Safe Kids’ awareness campaign launch on April 13, was recorded and is posted under Resources on the Safe Kids’ Online Speaker’s Bureau website.
Read More from “Time to Ramp Up Heatstroke Prevention Efforts”
