The data that will help improve industry efforts to make vehicles, and their rear seats in particular, safer for older children.
General Motors has joined the advisory board of the Center for Child Injury Prevention Studies (CChIPS) at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia Research Institute. GM researchers will help CChIPS faculty in a study aimed at improving safety belt performance and decreasing the child injury rate during vehicle crashes.
The GM team will work with CChIPS faculty at Children’s Hospital and University of Pennsylvania, as well as other CChIPS members at vehicle manufacturers, restraint suppliers, child seat manufacturers, and the insurance industry to compare injury and fatality risks for children using safety belts with those of adults in similar crashes.
The 10-month study will explore why some children who are 8-15 years of age experience injuries in vehicle crashes even when wearing a safety belt.
Toyota announced last month that it is launching a safety research center at the Toyota Technical Center (TTC) in Ann Arbor, Michigan. As part of this program, Toyota researchers and engineers are also working with the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia Research Institute on protecting children, teens and seniors in accidents. These groups account for about 30% of U.S. traffic fatalities.
(See Toyota Announces a New Safety Research Center in Michigan)
