Interpretation ID: aiam3278
Bartmen
Braun & Halper
Attorneys at Law
1880 Century Park East
Suite 1015
Los Angeles
CA 90067;
Dear Mr. Halper: This responds to your letter of March 13, 1980, asking severa questions about Standard No. 213, *Child Restraint Systems*, on behalf of California Strolee, Inc.; I would first like to correct an apparent misunderstanding you hav about remarks made by Mr. Hitchcock in a meeting with you and Mr. Richard Hyde of Strolee. Mr. Hitchcock's remarks were to the effect that the agency encouraged beneficial innovations in child restraints and would be receptive to amending the standard to remove any restrictions to beneficial innovations. Any amendments to the standard would be made in accordance with the requirements of the Administrative Procedures Act. The agency does not engage in 'ad hoc' rulemaking procedures.; The following are the responses to the fourteen questions you asked. 1. You asked how the minimum surface area requirements set in sectio 5.2.2 for the sides and back of child restraints are to be measured. You were specifically concerned about measuring 'curved surfaces, without some guidelines, the exact place where the side stops and the back begins cannot be ascertained.' The area's measurements can be determined by positioning the appropriate test dummy in the restraint. The area within the dummy's outline projected directly rearward and the areas within the dummy's torso outline projected directly sideward must comply with the minimum surface area for the back and sides of the restraint.; 2. You are correct that section S5.2.2.1(c) only requires a minimu radius of curvature and does not establish a minimum surface area for fixed or movable surfaces in front of the child. The agency encourages manufacturers to utilize designs with large surface areas at least equivalent to the shield designs incorporated in some current restraints.; 3. You asked whether shoulder belt grommets are prohibited by sectio 5.2.3.2. In response to Strolee's petition for rulemaking on section 5.2.3.2, the agency has amended the section to permit the use of grommets that comply with the protrusion limitation requirements of section 5.2.4.; 4. You raised a question about whether section 5.4.3.3 requires the us of a five-point belt system. The agency's intent was to allow the use of hybrid systems, which for example, might use upper torso restraints, a crotch strap and a shield instead of a lap belt. Thus, the agency provided in section 5.4.3.3(c) that a crotch strap must connect to the 'lap belt or other device used to restrain the lower torso.' The agency established the minimum radius of curvature requirements of section 5.2.2.1(c) to ensure that any surface used in place of a lap or other belt would not concentrate forces on a limited area of the child's body. The recent notice on the standard, appearing in the Federal Register of May 1, 1980, amends the standard to clarify section 5.4.3.3.; 5. You objected to the buckle force requirements set in section 5.4.3. as being too high. The goal of that section is to prevent young children from opening the buckles while ensuring that adults can do so. As explained in the December 1979 final rule, section 5.4.3.4 is based on research done by the National Swedish Road and Traffic Institute. The research showed that young children could not open a buckle requiring a release force of 12 or more pounds, but could open buckles requiring a lower release force. That same research found that buckles requiring a release force greater than 20 pounds would be difficult for adult women to open. The agency is not aware of any research contradicting the Swedish study and no commenter to the docket submitted any data showing that the Swedish study is inaccurate.; 6. You asked for an interpretation of the words 'integral' an 'position' as those words are used in section 6.1.2.3.1(c) and 6.1.2.3.2(c). Amended Standard 213 is intended to address, among other things, the problem of misuse of child restraints. The principal misuse involves the failure to attach buckles and latches. To ensure that children using child restraints are afforded protection notwithstanding such misuse, the standard specifies that the belts are to be attached to restraining shields during testing only if they are integral parts of the shields. Webster's New Collegiate Dictionary (1977) defines 'integral' as meaning 'formed as a unit with another part.' Attachment of belts that are integral parts is permitted since they are intended to remain attached whether or not the restraint is in use and thus are not subject to the type of misuse described above.; The word 'position' was also used in its common dictionary sense t mean put in place or arrange. Thus during the test, each movable surface will be put into place in accordance with the manufacturer's instruction. The positioning requirements only apply to the arrangement of the movable surface and does not permit the attachment of any belts that are not an integral part of the movable surface.; 7. You stated section 6.1.2.4 is inconsistent with S6.1.2.3.1 an 6.1.2.3.2 because 6.1.2.4. supposedly allows attachment of the restraint system's belts, while sections 6.1.2.3.1 and 6.1.2.3.2 do not allow belts to be attached that are not an integral part of a fixed or movable surface.; Your interpretation is not correct. Section 6.1.2.4 sets specification for tightening the restraint system's belts, prior to the sled test. However, both sections 6.1.2.3.1 and 6.1.2.3.2 provide that the belt adjustment requirements of section 6.1.2.4 are not to apply to belts that are not an integral part of the fixed or movable surface.; 8. You asked how the agency defined 'target point' as that term is use in section 5.1.3.2. Section 5.1.3.2 requires that 'no portion of the target point on either side of the dummy's head' shall pass through two specified planes during the sled test. The agency used the term 'target point' to refer to the center of the target on the side of the test dummy's head. THe location of the target is specified in the engineering drawing incorporated in part 572, *Anthropomorphic Test Dummies*, Subpart C.; 9. You asked whether the standard establishes strength specification for belts. Section 5.4 establishes performance requirements that the belt systems used in child restraint systems must meet. The section does not establish specific breaking strengths for the belts, other than the requirement in section 5.4.1(a) that after being subjected to 'the abrasion requirements of Standard No. 209, *Seat Belt Assemblies*, the belts must have a breaking strength of not less that 75 percent of the strength of the unabraided webbing....' Of course, belts which are to be attached during testing must not break during the test if the effect of the breakage is to cause a violation of section 5.1.2 and 5.1.3.; 10. You expressed concern about 'the difficulty in running qualit control tests where the buckle hardware is not subject to specifications, but only performance standards.' The National Traffic and Motor Vehicle Safety Act (15 U.S.C. 1391) only authorizes the agency to issue requirements that are as performance oriented as possible. The Act places responsibility on a manufacturer to devise its own specifications which will ensure that its product performs as required.; 11. You asked our opinion whether the Waterbury buckle complies wit Standard No. 213. THe agency does not issue opinions as to whether a particular design does or does not comply with the requirements of a standard. Under section 114 of the Vehicle Safety Act, manufacturers must certify that they comply with all applicable federal standards.; 12. We have answered your questions concerning the use of soft foa armrests or trays in our earlier letter of April 17, 1980.; 13. You asked whether 'a buckle affixing the crotch strap to some othe portion of the car seat must comply with the tension (sic) requirements of section 5.4.3.5. That section provides that 'Any buckle in a child restraint system belt assembly designed to restrain a child using the system shall' meet specified buckle release requirements. Since a crotch strap is used in a child restraint system to restrain the child, a buckle used with the crotch strap must comply with the requirements of section 5.4.3.5.; 14. You raised a question about the safety of buckles that 'do not sna or latch, but rather require the turn of a knob to seal them together.' Your concern is that the knob may not be fully turned and thus the buckle may not be fully latched. Any buckle, regardless of its specific design must comply with the release requirements of section 5.4.3.5. In the preamble to the December 1979 final rule, the agency encouraged manufacturers to use push button buckles, similar to those used in automobile belts, so that people unfamiliar with child restraints can readily unbuckle them in emergencies. Use of push button buckles would also solve the potential problems of incomplete latching that may be associated with knob-type buckles.; If you have any additional questions, please let me know. Sincerely, Frank Berndt, Chief Counsel