Misuse study of latch attachment: a series of frontal sled tests.

This study was initiated to quantify the effects of the misuse in LATCH lower webbing. In the short period since the implementation of the LATCH system several cases of potential misuses have been reported. A series of sled tests in frontal impact mode were conducted with various misuse conditions (loose attachment of LATCH lower webbing, misrouting of LATCH lower webbing and child seat back inclination) for both forward and rearward facing child safety seats (FFCSS and RFCSS). Results from these tests are compared and discussed with that of the standard test with no misuse and showed that as the slack in the lower LATCH webbing increased, ATD injury measures exceeded the limits. The FFCSS tests in the reclined condition yielded lower injury values for all except the chest G's when compared to the standard upright test. In the misrouting tests the ATD kinematics depended on the routing pivot point, the lower the pivot point the better the ATD kinematics. Similar findings were also observed in the RFCSS tests. The use of top tether with the FFCSS substantially improved the performance of the Hybrid III 3 year old ATD in spite of misuse conditions and the injury values were lower than the corresponding tests with no top tether. The effective reduction was 37% in the HIC values, 6% in the chest G's, 30% in the head excursion, 22 % in the knee excursion and finally 37 % reduction in the Nij values.