SIDE AIRBAGS: EVALUATING THE BENEFITS AND RISKS FOR RESTRAINED CHILDREN

Child dummies were seated in size appropriate child restraints and exposed to in-vehicle, static, side mounted airbag deployments as well as full scale side impact crash tests.

The child seat sample included rear and forward facing child restraints and booster seats. Anthropomorphic test dummies (ATD) included an 18 month infant and fully instrumented Hybrid III 3 year old and Hybrid III 6 year old child dummies.

Preliminary results suggest that properly restrained infants and children occupying age appropriate child seats may receive some protective benefits from side airbags provided the child seat and the child occupant are correctly positioned.