Potential improvements to the Canadian Child Restraint Regulations

In Canada child restraint systems are currently evaluated under the Canadian Motor Vehicle Safety Regulations. The present paper reviews the relevance of the criteria and test procedures used to evaluate child restraint systems under these regulations. Special attention is given to the reported high incidence of misuse in Canada including data from a recently completed road-side survey conducted in Ontario by Transport Canada. Legislative and experimental attempts to reduce the opportunity for misuse of child restraint systems in Canada are considered in light of the results of this study. Consideration is also given to areas for improving child restraints by more realistic testing and performance requirements. This includes the results of a preliminary test program to develop a standardized test procedure for the evaluation of the head contact surface of child restraint systems.