AuSAP improves safety for children with disability
MACA’s groundbreaking Australian Safety Assessment Program (AuSAP) has led to a change in installation guidance for a special purpose car seat available in Australia – improving road safety for children and young people with disability.
Crash testing improves performance
AuSAP assessment and testing of the Carrot XL special purpose car seat identified significant safety concerns that could be improved by a simple change in how the vehicle’s seatbelt is used with the car seat’s harness.
Crash testing of the Carrot XL through the program revealed that using the vehicle seatbelt over the harness was interfering with the correct fitment of the seatbelt, which could cause significant injury in a crash.
Further crash testing of the car seat with the seatbelt paced under the car seat’s harness was found to significantly improve the restraint’s safety performance.
Change of use implemented
The Australian importer, Medifab, worked with the overseas manufacturer to amend the instruction manual and implement the change of use throughout Australia and New Zealand, in line with Therapeutic Goods Association requirements.
“We are grateful for the important work that MACA is doing; as a company we welcome the latest research and advice and will do everything we can to ensure that travel is the safest it can be for children with disability,” said Medifab.
The Carrot XL car seat is one of our most popular products so this change of use for the benefit of improved safety will have a huge positive impact on many families across Australia and New Zealand.
‘An added bonus’
As well as an improved safety outcome, this change in use has led to an unintended benefit for some children and young people with challenging behaviours who regularly get out of their car seats while the vehicle is moving.
Allied health professionals have reported that the changed setup ensures the seatbelt remains in its intended position – reducing the risk of the passenger getting out of the car seat, which can be a serious road safety hazard.
Previously, one of the problems had been where the child fiddles with the seatbelt – but now that the seatbelt is underneath, it’s an added safety bonus.
About AuSAP
MACA’s Australian Safety Assessment Program was established with funding from the Victorian Transport Accident Commission (TAC) and receives in-kind support from Britax Childcare and Neuroscience Research Australia, while industry donates products for testing.
AuSAP is the only program of its type in the world. Through AuSAP, we have now considered 29 special purpose car seats and completed nearly 100 assessments, including sled-crash tests, to assess their strengths and limitations when it comes to safety. So far, ten special purpose car seats have been published on MACA’s National Product Register.
The car seats are assessed against selected criteria from Australia’s rigorous child restraint standard – the same standard that ‘off the shelf’ car seats must comply with here.
