North Carolina Product Liability Blog : North Carolina Product Liability Lawyer & Attorney : D. Hardison Wood : Toy Safety, Child Restraint, Car Seats

Finding and choosing the correct child restraint seat can be an extremely daunting experience.  The DOT has announced a new consumer program that is designed to help parents and other child caregivers choose the right seat for their car which will at least help answer the question "will this car seat fit in my car?" .

NHTSA will institute a new program beginning with the 2011 model year to make it easier for parents to choose child safety seats. Car manufacturers will recommend specific seats in various price ranges that fit for individual vehicles.

Further, Secretary LaHood has asked NHTSA to:

develop a new side impact safety standard for car seats. Side impact crashes account for one-third of all highway deaths among children under thirteen years old.

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Roof crush standards currently require that the roof withstand 1.5 times its weight in a roll over. However, that is not strong enough to help occupants necessarily survive one of the deadliest types of crashes: car rollovers which kill approximately 10,000 people a year. Now, the US Transportation Secretary, Ray LaHood announced new tougher standards.

The new regulation from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration will double the current roof strength requirement for light vehicles weighing up to 6,000 pounds. It specifies that both the driver and passenger sides of the roof must be capable of withstanding a force equal to three times the weight of the vehicle.

The current standard calls for roofs to withstand 1.5 times the weight of the vehicle, applied to one side of the roof, for light vehicles up to 6,000 pounds.

Heavier vehicles from 6,000 to 10,000 pounds, which have never been regulated, must now have both sides of the roof capable of withstanding a force equal to 1.5 times the weight of the vehicle.

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With the unofficial start to summer kicking off this holiday weekend, we felt it important to revisit an issue we discussed before: pool and spa safety and drains. New regulations have gone into effect requiring newer safer drains.  Older drains have long since caused children to become entrapped, either causing severe bodily injury or death. The CPSC issued a new report today on pool and spa safety and revisited the drain issue.

New data (PDF) from CPSC also shows that from 1999 through 2008, there were 83 reports of pool and spa entrapments, including 11 deaths and 69 injuries. Since 1999, 14% of the reported suction/entrapment incidents at pools or spas were fatal.

The Pool and Spa Safety Act (P&SSAct) went into effect on December 19, 2008 and requires all public pools and spas to have anti-entrapment drain covers, and in certain circumstances, an additional anti-entrapment system. CPSC has prioritized public wading pools, kiddie pools and in-ground spas as the key areas of focus for enforcement and has called upon state departments of health to assist the agency in enforcing the law.

CPSC is also announcing the launch of a new Web site - www.PoolSafety.gov - which serves as a valuable source for information about the P&SSAct and drowning prevention. The new site provides information for the general public, the swimming pool and spa community, state and local officials, and the media.

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