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March 17, 2007
EXPERTS TO REVIEW CU CHILD-SEAT TESTS; NHTSA PLANS ANNOUNCED
Consumers Union has announced the naming of two experts to review its controversial – and eventually withdrawn – child restraint crash test program and results. (See Current Development Archives for January, 2007.) “The experts are Brian O'Neill, the former president of the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) and the Highway Loss Data Institute (HLDI); and Dr. Kennerly H. Digges, the director of Vehicle Safety and Biomechanics at the Federal Highway Administration/ National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) National Crash Analysis Center of George Washington University.
Meanwhile, NHTSA reportedly is moving forward to get a grip on child restraint use and design problems. According to the Detroit Free Press, the agency pledged at a recent child-restraint conference to reduce “the confusion surrounding child car seats, saying the current mélange of seat designs and markings in vehicles was leaving parents confused and children at risk.” (See Current Development Archive for December, 2006.)
According to the Detroit News in an article on the subject, new NHTSA regs on car seats for children are to be “issued by end of the year… NHTSA chief Nicole Nason told reporters her office planned to update the federal regulations governing auto safety seats and the system in automobiles for securing them without using safety belts. ‘It's not an easy solution," Nason said. "We want to make children as safe as possible, give parents the best information and make the technology available to protect children in vehicles.’”
Posted by MVHAP at March 17, 2007 02:06 PM