ISOFIX: An alternative approach for misuse reduction of child restraint systems and performance enhancement

Problems with the current methods of attaching child restraints to the vehicle structure or to avoid misuse have led to the development of new attachment systems. These proposals have been coordinated by the International Standards Organization (ISO) with the intention of generating an international standard system for the attachment of child restraints called ISOFIX. ISOFIX or the rigid LATCH system is a proposal for a standardized attachment system for child restraints, which has been advanced as a means of improving usage, especially reducing misuse, against possible complexity of the child restraint and its installation into the vehicle. A Conventional child restraint or the flexible LATCH system using the same child seat shell developed was used for comparison. The results demonstrated that both the systems could perform well, provided that any adjustment in the attachment system was tightened. However, the flexible LATCH system was particularly sensitive to misuse (Various degrees of slack were introduced into the system to study the sensitivity to misuse). Overall, the system with rigid attachment, ISOFIX, performed better. (Abstract shortened by UMI.)...