Tech Update – October 2009

Child Care Providers Need Two Hours Training in Transportation Safety

Many of you have or will be getting inquiries from day care staff about the new requirement for two hours of education in transportation safety that must be completed by 12/31/09. Jacob’s Law became effective September 1, 2009. The law requires anyone in a licensed or registered child care program who transports a child whose chronological or developmental age is younger than nine years to complete at least two hours of annual training on transportation safety.

The Texas AgriLife Extension Service Passenger Safety Project is offering a new online course, Transporting Children Safely in Child Care. The website is: http://childcare.tamu.edu. Any child care worker who has taken our previous course, Introduction to Child Safety Seats for Child Care Providers, can use this course for the needed two hours of credit. The new course has been updated and also includes a module specifically addressing keeping children safe in and around vehicles.

Transporting Children Safely in Child Care is designed to provide child care providers with basic knowledge on the correct selection, usage, and installation of child safety seats as well as guidelines for protecting children in and around vehicles. This course qualifies for two clock hours of credit and meets the requirements for two hours of transportation safety education as mandated by Jacob’s Law.

Although the course is free, there is a $10 fee for printing out the certificate. Please contact Passenger Safety at 979-862-1782 if you have questions.

New Community Outreach Kit Available for Technicians

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, in conjunction with the National Child Passenger Safety Board, has developed an easily adaptable presentation module to encourage currently certified CPS Technicians to use their knowledge and skills to make community presentations about the importance of occupant protection. The kit was designed specifically for technicians, which is why it can only be accessed through the technician's profile via the certification site.

The CPS Technician Occupant Protection Community Outreach Kit public page is found at: http://www.cpsboard.org/techoutreach.htm. To access the Outreach Kit, logon at http://safekids.org/certification with your user name and password; then click on Technician and Instructor Downloads.

Now Available – Hooked on LATCH: Update Presentations 2009

Safe Ride News is offering two PowerPoint sessions developed for conferences and update classes, 1 CEU each, with full presenter notes: Hooked on LATCH: Basics through Photos (LATCH use/misuse) and LATCH and Beyond (latest developments). For details, go to http://sk.convio.net/site/DocServer/LATCH-CD_Flyer_nb.pdf?docID=22201 (PDF).

Summer 2009 Tech Update Now Availalbe

The national CPS Board and NHTSA are pleased to bring to you this issue of Tech Update, a newsletter designed to make it easier for CPS Technicians to keep informed of technical developments in the CPS field.

Information on Booster Seat Fit

Safe Ride News has put together an information sheet on booster seat fit. They have created a chart that gives the booster seat name, weight and height limits, inside and outside width of the seat, as well as dimensions to help with vehicle fit. This very valuable technician tool is located at: http://www.saferidenews.com/SRNDNN/Portals/0/PDFs/Boosters%20to%20Fit%20List.pdf (PDF).

Back-overs and Hot Cars: Non-crash Dangers to Children

The National Safety Council is offering colorful, free flyers with prevention tips addressing two critical but less recognized safety dangers to children: hot car deaths and back-overs.

Source: Tess Benham and Rachel Poulin, National Safety Council (Itasca, IL)

Re-certification Reminder

You may re-certify up to four months before your certification expiration date. Avoid problems – don’t delay!

Basic re-certification requirements and deadlines:

To get to the payment screen, you must have:

  1. Completed all five seat checks (entered and CPSTI approved).
  2. Entered at least six CEUs.
  3. Entered your community event information.

Once all three are done, you will see a “Click Here to Continue” button that will take you to the payment screens.

Once your registration is complete, your re-certification will be processed in two to four days.

Technology Update: Anti-Rebound Bar

Rebound is a force that doesn’t receive much attention as a subtopic of child passenger safety. As technicians, we know that every force has an equal and opposite reaction. Rebound, in the context of vehicle safety, is the equal and opposite reaction to an initial frontal impact experienced in a vehicle crash. The CPS curriculum defines it as the “reactive motion in the opposite direction after initial impact has occurred.”

To better understand the benefits of a rebound-limiting device, think about the events of a typical frontal and rear impact crash without a rebound-limiting device.

With a rear-facing convertible CR, several manufacturers manage rebound energy via the use of a rear-facing tether. This tether limits the amount of travel the seat is allowed to make once past its original position. In the infant carrier category, rebound is being (and has been) addressed with a feature appropriately named an anti-rebound bar. This component is affixed to the in-car base of the infant carrier and limits the movement described above by forming a rigid “L” shape with the base bottom pressed against the bottom and back seat cushions of the vehicle. The reduction in child restraint movement then allows the harness in the restraint to perform its designed function and also keeps the child’s head from contacting the back of the vehicle seat and/or other items previously mentioned.

In the case of a rear impact, the CR will attempt to rotate toward the rear of the vehicle towards the point of impact, but the rear-facing tether (in a convertible CR) or the anti-rebound bar (in an infant carrier) will significantly reduce the distance it will be able to rotate toward the vehicle seat back during the crash event. Again, this reduction in motion allows the harness in the restraint to perform its designed function, while keeping the child’s head from contacting the back of the vehicle seat.

On infant carriers, an anti-rebound bar has been used on the Britax Companion® Infant Carrier and is currently used on the Britax Chaperone® Infant Carrier, Safe-n-Sound™ Unity Infant Carrier in Australia and the Britax Baby Safe in Europe (all companies are part of the Britax Childcare Group, Ltd).

Source: Sarah Tilton, CPS Advocate, Britax Child Safety (Charlotte, N.C.)

Fact or Fiction:

The top tether can be used when a CR is installed using a vehicle seat belt OR lower anchors.

Fact:
While the top tether is part of the LATCH (Lower Anchors and Tethers for CHildren) system, tethers were required on forward-facing CR starting in September 1999. The lower attachments, completing the LATCH system, were required on all child restraint systems (CRS) starting September 2002.

Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard 213 requires testing of CRS installed utilizing the lap belt only with and without the tether secured and the lower anchors with and without the tether secured.

Please refer to the user guide of each child restraint model by manufacturer for clear instruction on tether use with that particular CRS.

Source: Sarah Tilton, CPS Advocate, Britax Child Safety (Charlotte, N.C.)

A Closer Look at Lock-offs

Many child restraint manufacturers are using various types of built-in lock-offs on their CRS today. Each manufacturer and platform will vary on the instructed use of the built-in lock-off for a specified CR. Please read the user guide for a specific CRS to ensure proper use as directed by the manufacturer. You may also refer to Chapter 5: Seat Belt Systems without Pre-Crash Locking Features of the National Child Passenger Safety Board’s certification training curriculum.

Source: Sarah Tilton, CPS Advocate, Britax Child Safety

Recline Angle – Getting It Right

Recline angles have been a confusing issue since before the National Standardized CPS Training Program began. The curriculum has been revised over and over again, each time becoming clearer about the correct answers. Unfortunately, some students (and instructors) gravitate toward 45 degrees being correct (paper test, inclinometers, etc.). Let’s be very clear about this!

45 degrees is the WRONG recline angle – UNLESS that is the angle (or within the angle range) that the manufacturer designates as correct. For more models than I can count, 45 degrees is too reclined! The angle indicator and instructions tell you what is correct, and all car seat challenge testing must be done at the angle prescribed BY THE MANUFACTURER for that specific model (see recently revised AAP guidelines).

Measured from the vertical plane (not horizontal), most current RF seats that I have measured have a maximum recline somewhere between 37 and 43 degrees. That is several degrees more UPRIGHT than the paper test. Except in VERY rare cases, the manufacturer’s level indicator IS correct, as long as the vehicle is parked on a level surface. A technician (or non-technician) who questions the validity of the level indicator’s reading should contact the manufacturer.

Let’s go a step further. Having the flat part of the base level with the ground is also NOT an indicator of correct angle. That practice is usually incorrect since most current bases are designed to accommodate a vehicle seat slope. Using that as an indicator would mean that the child would be TOO reclined. Tolerance testing with the CR on a flat surface should take that into consideration, and testers should ensure that the level indicator is used.

Over-reclining a CR can affect crash performance. A technician who suggests overriding manufacturer instructions/indicators is TELLING the caregiver to use the CR incorrectly, which is obviously not our goal. The same applies to technicians saying that older children can be more upright than the angle prescribed by the manufacturer. Unless the manufacturer specifically allows it or is consulted, that too is overriding instructions and is inconsistent with some crash test results for some models. Here are some examples of wording from the current curriculum on page 133 of the student manual:

Source: Joe Colella, Traffic Safety Projects, ColellaSafety@gmail.com , August 2009

Five CEUs Available Online from Texas AgriLife Extension Service Passenger Safety

Other CEU Opportunities

Source: CPS Express, February and March 2009

National Conferences/Meetings

 

 

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Last updated: 14 October, 2009

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