Charles J. Kahane

THE NEW CAR ASSESSMENT PROGRAM: HISTORICAL REVIEW AND EFFECT

This report is a condensed version of the December 1993 New Car Assessment Program (NCAP) report to Congress and provides: an historical review and future goals for NCAP; the results of an 18- month study to assess consumer and media needs in understanding and promoting the use of NCAP data. This included consumer focus groups and media studies. These studies indicated that consumers and the media desire comparative safety information on vehicles, a simplified NCAP format to better understand and utilize the crash test results, and would like to see NCAP expanded to include other crash modes; and studies of real-world crashes versus NCAP crash tests. These studies conclude that NCAP test conditions approximate real-world crash conditions covering a major segment of the frontal crash safety problem and that there is a significant correlation between NCAP results and real-world fatality risks for restrained drivers. (A) For the covering abstract see IRRD 874898.

EVALUATION OF THE EFFECTIVENESS OF CHILD SAFETY SEATS IN ACTUAL USE

A comprehensive review is presented of casualty-reducing effectiveness estimates of child safety seats in actual use, obtained by statistical analyses of highway accident data. Recent analyses of large samples of New York and Maryland accidents show statistically significant injury reductions for child safety seats; so does a new analysis of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administrations accident files. Results from Washington State, Tennessee, New Jersey, and Idaho are also reviewed, as are Nationwide restraint usage and fatality trends. The findings are critically examined for possible data biases. It is concluded that child safety seats definitely reduce deaths and injuries in highway crashes, but that their effectiveness cannot be accurately estimated at this time because of inconsistencies and possible biases in the various studies.

1974 ACCIDENT EXPERIENCE WITH AIR CUSHION RESTRAINT SYSTEMS

An air cushion restraint system has been available to the public on certain model passenger cars since January 1974. In response to this opportunity to obtain field experience, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has established a nationwide reporting network and investigative capability for accidents involving air-bag equipped cars. This paper summarizes the experience during the first year of the program, during which time the rate of accident occurrence was far less than originally expected. /SAE/