Minnesota HealthSolutions (MHS) proposes to develop an active harness pretensioning system for motor vehicle child safety seats. Motor vehicle crashes are the leading cause of death for children in the United States. Child safety seats are the most effective way to prevent death and serious injury to children in crashes. Many serious child injuries from motor vehicle crashes occur when the child's head travels in the direction of vehicle impact and strikes a surface in the vehicle or moves with high enough acceleration to cause injury. The objective of this proposed project is to develop an advanced child safety seat that provides substantially improved head protection in motor vehicle crashes by controlling head excursion. A prototype seat will be designed, simulated, manufactured, and tested.
Child safety seats are the most effective tool at preventing death and injuries to children in motor vehicle crashes. The societal benefit of the proposed advanced child safety seat is that, if successful, it will improve the effectiveness of child safet seats by reducing the likelihood for head injuries.
