The ability of child safety seats to prevent injury to infants and children during a side-impact car wreck is scheduled to be studied by the United States Federal Government. The National Highway and Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) do not have any federal standards that monitor the manufacturing of child safety seats to be able to withstand a side-impact car wreck.
European manufacturers have developed special products that address the safety concerns associated with side-impact car wrecks. There are products in stores which are meant to protect a child during a side-impact car wreck.
The NHTSA has strict standards for child safety seats in regards to front-impact car wrecks. Front-impact car wrecks are the most common form of car wreck in the United States, but side-impact car wrecks are known to have the highest rate of serious injury and fatality.
During a side-impact car wreck, it is possible for a child or infant to experience serious injuries due to child safety seats that have been improperly designed. It is the responsibility of the manufacturer to make sure that their products provide a reasonable level of safety. If they fail to do so, they may be found liable by a car wreck attorney.
The most common injuries occur to the:
- Head
- Face
- Chest
- Thorax
Due to the lack of official standards, the NHTSA has no way to test any newly manufactured safety devices to see if they might be effective in protecting children and infants during side-impact car wrecks.
Because of the lack of federal standards in the United States, there are no standard crash test dummies to test procedures in order to document the effectiveness of any safety devices. Manufacturers of American car safety seats will not being to produce side-impact safety devices until the Federal Government establishes standard procedures and guidelines.
In 2007, the number of child safety seats recalled by the NHTSA exceeded the combination of the four previous years. There were a total of 11 recalls that affected more than 3.35 million child safety seats. The number of recalls demonstrates that the NHTSA is aware of the need for strict standards to be established in order to protect the safety of children and infants during side-impact car wrecks.