Dorel introduces Air Protect car seat safety technology
Offered in the new Safety 1st Complete Air car seat now
-- Kids Today, 9/16/2009 1:38:00 PM
LAS VEGAS – Dorel Juvenile Group launched Air Protect, one of the most innovative and ground-breaking safety features ever offered in a car seat, at the ABC Kids Expo here. Developed in conjunction with Kettering University’s renowned Crash Safety Center, Air Protect is designed to protect children in side impact collisions, putting a state-of-the-art layer of air protection where it’s needed most, around the child’s head.
Side impact crashes have dramatically increased over the past two decades and are today the deadliest kind of crashes for children. The vast majority of these fatalities are due to head trauma, according to the U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
The way it works is that through the precise release of air, Air Protect compresses and shields children from side impact intrusion and immediately reduces crash forces where the child is most vulnerable – the head. Air Protect does this by extending ride-down, the amount of time it takes to slow a child’s movement in a crash. By extending ride-down time, Air Protect creates a slower, softer landing.
Air Protect was developed as a result of a revolutionary testing method. The Dorel/Kettering Method uses an intruding door technique, instead of a fixed door, to simulate a side impact crash with far more accuracy. In a side impact crash, a car door moves inward, toward the child.
“Dorel continues to be the leader in the car seat category and with this unique testing approach has created a new level of side impact protection for children, the likes of which have never been seen before,” said Dave Taylor, president of Dorel Juvenile Group US. “This new testing method is so significant that we have shared our findings with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, supporting NHTSA’s efforts to provide more comprehensive regulation for side impact crash testing.”
Over the past two years, Dorel’s team of car seat engineers has collaborated with researchers at Kettering University to study side impact crashes. Founded by General Motors in 1919, Kettering University has been at the center of many of the auto industry’s safety innovations for decades.
“The Dorel/Kettering Method and Air Protect are truly break-through advancements for child passenger safety,” said Janet Brelin-Fornari, director of Kettering’s Crash Safety Center. Specializing in pediatric crash safety, she oversees the crash safety curriculum at Kettering.
“The technology is so revolutionary that we will be rolling it out globally – incorporating it in Dorel car seats in Europe and Australia, in addition to North America,” said Hani Basile, Global Dorel Juvenile Group president and CEO.
Air Protect is being offered in the new Safety 1st Complete Air car seat in black/gray and brown/orange. The car seat is easy to install, with Safety 1st’s QuickFit harness system, among other features.
“We know that proper installation and use are critical to a child’s safety too,” added Taylor.
A convertible car seat for children 5 to 50 pounds, Safety 1st’s Complete Air was available for pre-order beginning July 1 at Babies“R”Us stores and online at Babiesrus.com and Babiesrus.ca. In August, Toys“R”Us and Babies“R”Us stores were the first to offer the Complete Air car seat with Air Protect, followed by other retailers later in the year.
Air Protect Technology will also be extended to other Dorel car seats, including Maxi Cosi, Eddie Bauer and Cosco car seats.
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