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News

It’s 2016! Are You Still Using Locking Clips?

Editor’s Intro:

Although it may seem odd now, many in the CPS community were wary of switchable retractors when they first became available in the late 1990s.  After relying on locking clips (pictured left) for so many years, some installations just seemed tighter using them.

I remember being scolded by our certification course instructor during hands-on practice for using a locking clip in a situation that could have been handled using the vehicle’s switchable belt. I explained that I’d tried to use the switchable belt, but the installation was even tighter using the tried-and-true locking-clip approach.  But the instructor was unimpressed with my argument and taught me an important lesson:  When picking between an installation approach that improves tightness only marginally and an approach that is vastly easier for the caregiver to replicate, one should choose the latter because it empowers the caregiver.

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Study Finds CR/Vehicle Mismatch Prevalent

In October, a study was published that predicted that 42 percent of the time, vehicles and CRs are somehow incompatible.  The study, “Investigation of Child Restraint System Compatibility in the Vehicle Seat Environment,” by Ohio State College of Medicine’s Injury Biomechanics Research Center, used measurements of 59 current CRs and 61 late model vehicles to evaluate over 3,599 possible CR/vehicle combinations and predict likely incompatibilities.  To validate the results, researchers conducted physical installations of 34 of the scenarios.

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History of Tethers and LATCH

This information is excerpted from the 2015 LATCH Manual.

The story of tethers begins long before the introduction of LATCH. Tethers were used on forward-facing child restraints (CRs) in the United States, Canada, and Australia as early as 1970. They have been required equipment for all forward-facing CRs made since 1974 in Australia and since 1980 in Canada. In the U.S., however, though tethers were featured on some early CRs, they weren’t required. The challenges caregivers faced if they tried to retrofit their vehicles with tether anchors (TAs) led to very low levels of tether use, and tethers were eventually phased out of nearly all U.S. CR models by the mid-1980s.

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Research on LATCH Usability

This information is excerpted from the 2015 LATCH Manual.

In April 2012, the IIHS reported on findings from a joint LATCH-use study it conducted with the University of Michigan Transportation Research Institute. “Keys to Better LATCH” identified and measured key factors in the usability of LATCH and then studied volunteers to see how these factors predicted the quality of CR installations.

In 2014, the IIHS published two follow-up reports (one on LA attachment use and the other on tether use), which further affirmed the findings of the 2012 study. The studies help prepare the IIHS for a possible next step, which is to explore a ratings system to evaluate LATCH setups in common family vehicles.

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NHTSA Head Announces Agency’s Strong Support of Lap-Shoulder Belts on All School Buses

On November 8, Safe Ride News was in attendance when NHTSA Administrator Mark Rosekind* addressed school bus industry leaders at the National Association for Pupil Transportation Annual Summit.  Administrator Rosekind, while reinforcing the fact that today’s school buses are the safest way to transport kids to school, voiced the agency’s strong support for the eventual goal of equipping all new school buses with lap-shoulder belts.

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Center’s Aim Is to Better Protect Pets—and Those Who Ride With Them—in Cars

Despite claims, most products currently marketed to restrain pets in vehicles can, at best, prevent them from moving about the vehicle during normal driving.  While keeping a pet from distracting a driver is extremely worthwhile, the Center for Pet Safety (the Center), a nonprofit organization based in Virginia, seeks to promote the development of devices that do more to actually protect pets and other passengers in a crash.  The Center’s founder, Lindsey Wolko, recently stated in an interview with Motor Trend magazine that her organization has been actively advocating for the establishment of safety standards for pet products since 2011.

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Dr. Marilyn Bull Honored by White House as Champion of Change

Safe Ride News is pleased to report that Dr. Marilyn Bull has received a Champions of Change award from the White House and the U.S. Department of Transportation. Dr. Bull was recognized, along with 10 other recipients, at a ceremony in Washington, D.C., in October. The award honors individuals who have made a positive mark on the community by innovating in the field of transportation safety. (Pictured left DOT head, Secretary Anthony Foxx, presented Dr. Marilyn Bull with a Champions of Change award in October.)

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Best Practice for Children on Airplanes Still Seems Up in the Air!

However, an industry group takes a first step toward standardization of child safety recommendations aboard aircraft

During a busy summer of travel, I wrote several articles for this issue of SRN while waiting in airports and flying on airplanes.  Like most CPSTs, I travel with an awareness of the families around me and always perk up when I see a CR. Alas, contrary to safety recommendations, I find that most CRs that make it as far as the gate are gate-checked rather than used on board.  It’s understandable that most parents aren’t fully aware of best practice on airplanes; safety messages can be unclear and confusing in a system that allows children under age 2 to ride on a caregiver’s lap.  (And, let’s face it, those safety messages need to be very compelling to overcome parents’ understandable desire to save money by not buying a plane ticket for these infants.)

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