Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards for Car Seats

All car seats that end up on the shelves of stores in the United States must pass federal safety standard tests. The tests, designed by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, check not only the seat's ability to protect your child during a crash, but also designate the type of materials that can be used in the seat. Safety testing ensures that little fingers can't unbuckle the straps designed to hold your child in place, as well as addressing a long list of other safety issues.

  1. Integrity of the Seat

    • The seat's integrity addresses how well the seat is built to do the job of protecting your child. Some of the issues tested include whether a seat with adjustable positions remains in the same position during a crash, whether you can move a rear-facing seat from a reclining to a more upright position with the infant still in the seat and whether the load-bearing structures of the seat hold together without separating. The breaking strength of the webbing that tethers the seat and attaches it to the LATCH system is also tested, as well as the restraint that holds your child in place.

    Potential for Injury

    • Crash tests use weighted dummies to evaluated the possible injuries to a child in a 30-mile-an-hour frontal sled test. The tests measure the forces on a child's chest, torso and knees, as well as his head, and also evaluate the seat for proper back support. Tests measure the forces exerted, as well as the acceleration and deceleration of a child's head during a crash. While the tests use dummies up to 80 pounds, the head deceleration tests, which simulate the forces that can cause brain injury, aren't currently used on dummies between 65 and 86 pounds, which represents an average 10 year old, according to the CarSeat.org website. Crash dummies haven't kept pace with the increased weight of an increasing number of American children, according to a 2009 article in "The Washington Post."

    Head Protection

    • A child's head is the largest and heaviest part of him and the one most prone to serious injury during an accident. Because of this, the material surrounding the head gets extra attention during the testing. The thickness of the material, as well as its energy-absorbing potential, are tested; the more energy the head cushion absorbs, the less movement will occur, which helps prevent head injuries. The head restraint must reach a certain height to provide adequate protection.

    Labeling

    • You can't use a car seat properly if the manufacturer doesn't include vital information on the seat on installation and safe use. Car seats must include attached directions on how to install the seat and a place to store them on the seat, the weight limits of the seat, including the LATCH limits, the date of manufacture, the name and contact information for the manufacturer and a statement certifying that the car seat meets federal safety standards.

    2. Previous:

    Next: