How to Protect Your Child in a Side Impact Collision

THE IMPACT OF SIDE IMPACT

Over the past 20 years, the number of deaths related to front impact crashes has declined, while side impact crash fatalities have increased by 20 percent, in part due to larger vehicles, like SUVs, on the road. In a side impact crash, there is an average of just eight inches of steel protecting children in the back seat. Side impact collisions are among the deadliest type of collision for children, accounting for one in three child crash fatalities, nearly all of which are caused by head trauma.

1 in 4 car crashes involving children are side impact collisions. They are by far the deadliest type of collision for children, accounting for 1 in 3 child fatalities; nearly all of which are caused by head trauma.
According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), in a crash, a child’s head is the body part most vulnerable to serious and fatal injuries, accounting for 95 percent of all injuries sustained.

Between 1981 and 2001, frontal impact fatalities for all occupants dropped from 61 percent to 43 percent due to significant improvements in frontal crash protection according to the Insurance Institute of Highway Safety (IIHS).
IIHS also reports that during the same 20 year span, the percentage of side impact fatalities rose from 31 percent to 51 percent due mainly to the increase of travel speeds and the amount of SUVs on the road.
Side airbags that protect the head, chest and abdomen reduce driver deaths by an estimated 37 percent, according to the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS).

What is Air Protect™ Technology?

Air Protect™ Technology is the most innovative safety feature ever offered in a car seat. It is a technology that protects our children at their most vulnerable – the head.
How does Air Protect™ work?

Through the precise release of air, Air Protect™ shields children from side impact intrusion and immediately reduces crash forces at the most critical spot: around a child’s head. Air Protect™ does this by extending ride-down, the amount of time it takes to slow a child’s movement in a crash.

How is Air Protect™ different?

1. Primary Focus on Head Protection

Air Protect™ Technology has been designed to defend against the biggest threat to children on the road today; side impact collisions. Side impact are by far the deadliest type of collision for children, accounting for one in three child fatalities; nearly all of which are caused by head trauma. The placement of Air Protect™ Technology on the car seat diverts crash forces away from a child’s head, the most vulnerable place in a side impact crash.

2. Superior Testing Methodology

The Complete Air™ Convertible Car Seat is tested with an intruding door technique, which best replicates an actual side impact crash. Dorel Juvenile Group (DJG) collaborated with Kettering University’s renowned Crash Safety Center to develop a new standard for side impact testing. This new testing method is so significant that DJG and Kettering University have shared their findings with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), supporting NHTSA’s efforts to provide more comprehensive regulations for side impact crash testing.

See http://airprotect.safety1st.com/about.php




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For additional information contact:

Alan L. Morton
MORTON LAW OFFICES, CHARTERED
1005 North Eighth Street
Post Office Box 420
Boise, ID 83701-0420
Telephone: 208.344.5555
Toll Free: 866.946.1669 (866.WIN.1.NOW)
Facsimile: 208.342.2509
Email: amorton@mortonlawyers.com
Website: www.mortonlawyers.com