Investigation of Potential Design and Performance Criteria for Booster Seats Through Volunteer and Dynamic Testing

Klinich, Kathleen DeSantis; Jones, Monica H.; Manary, Miriam A.; Ebert, Sheila H.; Boyle, Kyle J.; Malik, Laura J.; Orton, Nichole R.; Reed, Matthew P. · 2020 · ROSA P / United States. Department of Transportation. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration

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Summary

This research addresses the inadequacy of current Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard (FMVSS) No. 213 performance criteria for booster seats, which can be met without using a booster, potentially allowing ineffective products to enter the market. The study aimed to identify candidate performance metrics capable of distinguishing less effective booster systems. The motivation stems from concerns that existing dynamic requirements fail to prevent poor belt fit and submarining risks, particularly for boosters that do not significantly raise the child’s seating position. The study employed a combination of volunteer testing and dynamic sled testing. Volunteer testing involved 24 children aged 4 to 12, measuring posture and belt fit across three vehicles and three laboratory seating conditions using six booster seats and a no-booster condition. These results were compared against Hybrid III 6-year-old (6YO), 10-year-old (10YO), and small female anthropomorphic test devices (ATDs). Dynamic testing utilized a surrogate seat belt retractor to simulate realistic shoulder belt spool-out, conducted on updated preliminary FMVSS No. 213 test benches in 2015 and 2018. The 2018 series evaluated eleven booster products and the no-booster condition, performing six tests with the 10YO ATD and 33 tests with the 6YO ATD. Volunteer testing revealed that posture differences between children and ATDs were greater in no-booster and low-backless booster conditions but were not significant enough to warrant changing ATD seating procedures. However, ATDs consistently showed poorer belt fit than children, with shoulder belts positioned closer to the neck and lap belts positioned further below the anterior superior iliac spine (ASIS). Dynamic testing demonstrated that the surrogate retractor produced repeatable results comparable to current FMVSS conditions. The study identified several candidate metrics associated with good ATD kinematics and reduced submarining risk: the difference between knee and head excursion, maximum torso angle, and lumbar MomentZ and ForceY. These metrics effectively differentiated boosters that provided adequate vertical boost (≥75 mm) from those that did not. The findings suggest that incorporating metrics such as knee-head excursion differences and lumbar loading could improve the regulatory assessment of booster seats. By identifying boosters that fail to provide sufficient vertical elevation or proper belt positioning, these criteria could prevent ineffective designs from meeting safety standards. The study confirms that while current ATDs have biofidelity limitations, specific kinematic and force measures can still serve as robust indicators of submarining potential and overall booster effectiveness.

Key finding

Dynamic testing with surrogate retractors identified knee-head excursion difference, maximum torso angle, and lumbar loads as candidate metrics for detecting ineffective boosters and submarining risk.

Methodology

mixed_methods

Sample size: 24

Provenance

The full processing record for this entry. Every stage of this paper's journey through the pipeline is logged — what ran, with which tool and model, how many attempts it took, and when it last completed. Discovered via bulk_ingest_rosap on 2026-05-23 (6 acquisition events logged).

Summary generated by qwen3.6-27b-prismaquant on 2026-06-10; verification: verified.

Topics

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• child passenger safety