Data Sheet 1_Effectiveness of load legs on rear-facing only child restraint systems (CRS) in frontal sled tests.docx

Across the full sample, load legs significantly reduced the occurrence of CRS shell and ATD head contact against the blocker plate. On average, load legs reduced the rotation angle of the CRS by 10.3° (47.9%, p < 0.0001), HIC15 by 1,339.7 (73.3%, p < 0.0001), head resultant acceleration by 69.3 g (50.8%, p < 0.0001), and chest resultant acceleration by 14.6 g (19.8%, p < 0.0001) compared to corresponding tests without load legs.

Although the load legs collapsed in several tests, many injury metrics were still significantly reduced in these cases compared to corresponding tests without load legs. However, collapsed load legs were less effective at reducing CRS rotation, which might be an important factor in preventing head strikes in real-world crashes.</p>Conclusion<p>Load legs provided significant benefits to the CRABI 12-month-old occupant in RFO CRS.

Load legs that maintained their structural integrity produced the best results, but load legs that collapsed under loading still provided significant benefits to CRS occupants. These results support the use of load legs in families’ vehicles when possible.</p>