Educational Materials for the Child Passenger Safety Field
News
Some Are Actually Small
As technician candidates, we learn that children on large school buses are protected by compartmentalization, but when the bus is small, seat belts are required to protect occupants properly. We’re also taught that the cutoff between small and large buses is a 10,000-pound gross vehicle weight rating (GVWR).
Despite claims, most products currently marketed to restrain pets in vehicles can, at best, prevent them from moving about the vehicle during normal driving. While keeping a pet from distracting a driver is extremely worthwhile, the Center for Pet Safety (the Center), a nonprofit organization based in Virginia, seeks to promote the development of devices that do more to actually protect pets and other passengers in a crash. The Center’s founder, Lindsey Wolko, recently stated in an interview with Motor Trend magazine that her organization has been actively advocating for the establishment of safety standards for pet products since 2011.
While’s it’s not the norm, some people, like the owner of the pooch in this photo, do what they can to protect all vehicle occupants, including pets. Although these efforts to restrain pets are worthwhile, many pet owners would be dismayed to know how poorly most pet restraint products would perform in a crash. Anyone riding with pets should consider:
Read More from “Safety a Challenge When Traveling With Pets”
Safe Ride News is pleased to report that Dr. Marilyn Bull has received a Champions of Change award from the White House and the U.S. Department of Transportation. Dr. Bull was recognized, along with 10 other recipients, at a ceremony in Washington, D.C., in October. The award honors individuals who have made a positive mark on the community by innovating in the field of transportation safety. (Pictured left DOT head, Secretary Anthony Foxx, presented Dr. Marilyn Bull with a Champions of Change award in October.)
Read More from “Dr. Marilyn Bull Honored by White House as Champion of Change”
On July 23, NHTSA convened an eight-hour meeting to discuss the “current state of knowledge” regarding three-point belt systems (aka lap-shoulder belts) on school buses. The meeting’s purpose was to identify operational and policy challenges and solutions regarding the use of lap-shoulder belts on buses and to explore innovative funding approaches that could “serve as a catalyst for change.”
Read More from “NHTSA Day-Long Meeting Explores Issue of Seat Belts on School Buses”
With approximately 10 million CRs sold in the U.S. each year, it stands to reason that this many will also expire or become otherwise unusable—and these typically make their way to our nation’s growing landfills. Two nonprofit organizations from Washington state, CoolMom and Zero Waste Washington, have jointly issued a 69-page report that examines the challenges and opportunities of a better approach: recycling unusable CRs. “Diverting Car Seats from the Waste Stream: An Investigation into the Reuse and Recycling of Children’s Car Seats” takes an in-depth look at the higher-level issues of this topic, like CR manufacturer involvement, emerging materials, funding models, and the various ways that CRs can be processed for recycling. In addition, a series of appendices includes impressive tables that list current collection programs across the country, sorted by type, ownership model, and state.
Read More from “In-Depth Report Explores Status of CR Recycling”
A motorcoach is a large, non-school bus that does not serve fixed routes (like city transit), but instead travels longer distances, usually on highways. While motorcoaches have a relatively good safety record compared to most other vehicle types, they do not have many of the safety features required of school buses. Nonetheless, groups of children frequently use these types of buses for field trips and sports outings, especially when the trip covers long distances.
Read More from “Motorcoach Safety: Agency Provides Guidance For Booking a Safer Trip”
At the Transporting Students with Disabilities and Preschoolers (TSD) Conference in March, Charley Kennington, of Innovative Transportation Solutions, and Kathy Furneaux, of the Pupil Transportation Safety Institute, discussed an important aspect of transporting groups of children: having a plan for how to get all students off the vehicle quickly in an emergency. When a school bus carries children who ride restrained in five-point harnesses, you can readily see how important it is to practice and prepare for emergency evacuation. In fact, knowing how a child would be evacuated in an emergency should be considered as important as learning how the CSRS is installed.
Read More from “School Bus Evacuation of Students in CSRS Requires Planning, Training”
Can regulatory amendments help LATCH meet its full potential?
On January 23, NHTSA published a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) regarding updates it plans for FMVSS 225 and 213 in order to improve the usability of the LATCH system. This NPRM is an important step toward improving ease of use and accessibility of lower and tether anchors, a topic that hasn’t been addressed through regulation since LATCH was initially introduced 15 years ago. It outlines some basic proposals for new regulations from NHTSA and seeks comment on the necessity of further regulation.
A new study of 267 newborn infants who were discharged from Oregon Health and Science University Hospital between November 2013 and May 2014 shows that almost all (93 percent) of the parents made significant errors in CR use or installation.
