NSW child seat laws risk lives: Volvo

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23 January 10

Car maker Volvo says new NSW child seat laws could cost lives or increase serious injuries to children involved in a car crash.

Drawing on data from independent crash tests and investigations of more than 4,500 crashes involving children, Volvo, known for its safety innovation, says allowing children as young as six months to face forward could lead to serious injuries and death due to the forces on the head and neck in an impact.

Volvo safety experts also say the NSW requirement, to be introduced on March 1, to keep children in a booster seat until they are seven should be extended to the age of 10 to ensure the correct positioning of the car's seatbelt across the child's body, The Sydney Morning Herald reports.

"The recommendation of turning forward-facing is wrong, according to our research and knowledge," said Lotta Jakobsen, the technical leader, biomechanics, injury and accident prevention analysis at Volvo Car Safety Centre.

Volvo says the head of a newborn baby accounts for almost half its body weight and that a child's neck muscles and ligaments cannot support the head in the event of an impact until at least four years of age. It says a 50km/h crash can exert a 100kg force on the head of a six-month-old baby.

Ms Jakobsen said rear-facing child seats are five times safer for those aged under four.

"Kids should go rearward-facing until three to four years," she said, adding that most serious crashes are frontal.

http://au.news.yahoo.com/a/-/mp/6711...k-lives-volvo/

This has some national implication and we have additional ARR adoption upcoming. Will seek RTA and medical feedback.