Motor Vehicle Restraint Systems and Booster Seats Safety Regulations (SOR/2010-90)

[525 to 599 reserved]

PART 6CMVSS 213.5 — Restraint Systems for Infants with Special Needs

General

Marginal note:Interpretation

600 In this Part, Test Method 213.5 means Test Method 213.5 — Restraint Systems for Infants with Special Needs (May 2012), published by the Department of Transport.

Marginal note:Restraint system designed to face the rear

601 Every restraint system for infants with special needs must be designed to face the rear of the vehicle, except that a car bed must be designed to rest on the vehicle’s rear bench seat so that its longitudinal axis is perpendicular to the vertical longitudinal plane passing through the longitudinal axis of the vehicle.

Marginal note:Torso restraint

602 Every restraint system for infants with special needs must, when the anthropomorphic test device is positioned in the restraint system in accordance with, in the case of a car bed, subsection 4.5.2 or 4.6.2 of Test Method 213.5 or, in the case of all other restraint systems for infants with special needs, subsection 4.5.3 or 4.6.3 of Test Method 213.5,

• (a) restrain the upper torso by means of belts passing over each shoulder; and

• (b) restrain the lower torso.

Marginal note:Means of securing restraint system

• 603 (1) Subject to subsection (2), every restraint system for infants with special needs must be designed to be secured to a vehicle

  • (a) by means of a vehicle seat belt in such a manner that the belt will not impose directly on the infant any loads that result from the mass of the restraint system, and without using any other means of attachment; and

  • (b) if the restraint system is equipped with a lower connector system, by means of the lower connector system, without using any other means of attachment.

• Marginal note:Restraint system with tether strap

  (2) If a restraint system for infants with special needs is equipped with a tether strap and the manufacturer recommends its use, the restraint system must be designed to be secured to a vehicle

  • (a) by means of the tether strap together with a vehicle seat belt in such a manner that the belt will not impose directly on the infant any loads that result from the mass of the restraint system, and without using any other means of attachment; and

  • (b) if the restraint system is equipped with a lower connector system, by means of the tether strap together with the lower connector system, without using any other means of attachment.

Marginal note:Restraint system with removable base

604 If a restraint system for infants with special needs is equipped with a lower connector system and is manufactured with a removable base, and the seating component of the restraint system is designed to be used in a vehicle with or without the base, the restraint system must be equipped with the lower connector system on the base.

Marginal note:Car bed

605 Every car bed must

• (a) provide restraint against the sideways movement of the infant’s head towards the front of the vehicle by means of a head restraint; and

• (b) have, in the shell of the car bed, a means of minimizing, when the car bed is installed in a vehicle in accordance with the manufacturer’s instructions, any loads to the top of the infant’s head in case of a side impact.

Marginal note:Restraint system to be adjustable

606 Every part of a restraint system for infants with special needs that is designed to restrain an infant must be adjustable to snugly fit an infant whose mass and height are within the ranges indicated in the statement referred to in paragraph 616(1)(d), when the infant is positioned in the restraint system in accordance with the instructions referred to in paragraph 618(1)(b) and the restraint system is adjusted in accordance with the instructions referred to in paragraph 618(1)(c).

Marginal note:Audible or visible indication

607 A restraint system for infants with special needs that is equipped with a lower connector system must provide a clear, audible indication when each connector in a lower connector system is securely attached to the lower universal anchorage system or a clear, visual indication that each connector is securely attached to the lower universal anchorage system.

Marginal note:Flammability

608 Every restraint system for infants with special needs must be constructed only of materials that conform to the requirements of TSD 302.

Belt Buckles and Webbing

Marginal note:Conformity with TSD 209

609 Every belt buckle and related piece of adjustment hardware and every tether strap attachment and related piece of adjustment hardware that are part of a restraint system for infants with special needs must conform to the requirements of S4.3(a)(2) and (b) of TSD 209.

Marginal note:Belt buckles

610 Every belt buckle that is fitted on a belt designed to restrain an infant in a restraint system for infants with special needs must

• (a) under the conditions set out in section 3 of Test Method 213.5,

  • (i) not release when any force of less than 40 N is applied, and

  • (ii) release when a force of at least 40 N but not more than 62 N is applied;

• (b) under the conditions set out in section 5 of Test Method 213.5, release when a force of not more than 71 N is applied;

• (c) conform to the requirements of S4.3(d)(2) of TSD 209, except that the surface area of a belt buckle designed for push-button application must be at least 385 mm²;

• (d) conform to the requirements of S4.3(g) of TSD 209; and

• (e) not release during the dynamic tests specified in section 4 of Test Method 213.5.

Marginal note:Webbing

611 Any webbing that is designed to secure a restraint system for infants with special needs to a user-ready tether anchorage or to a lower universal anchorage system, or to restrain an infant with special needs within the restraint system, must

• (a) when tested in accordance with S5.1(b) of TSD 209, before being tested for resistance to abrasion as specified in S5.1(d) or S5.3(c) of TSD 209, for resistance to light as specified in S5.1(e) of TSD 209 or for resistance to micro-organisms as specified in S5.1(f) of TSD 209, have a breaking strength of

  • (i) at least 15 000 N, in the case of webbing designed to secure the restraint system to the user-ready tether anchorage or to the lower universal anchorage system, or

  • (ii) at least 11 000 N, in the case of webbing designed to restrain an infant with special needs within the restraint system;

• (b) when tested in accordance with S5.1(b) of TSD 209, after being tested for resistance to abrasion as specified in S5.1(d) or S5.3(c) of TSD 209, have a breaking strength of at least 75% of its initial breaking strength;

• (c) conform to the requirements respecting breaking strength set out in S4.2(e) and (f) of TSD 209; and

• (d) if contactable by the torso when the restraint system is tested in accordance with section 4 of Test Method 213.5, have a width of not less than 38 mm, measured as specified in S5.1(a) of TSD 209.

Contactable Surfaces

Marginal note:Contactable surfaces

• 612 (1) Every restraint system for infants with special needs, other than a car bed must provide

  • (a) for the support of the infant’s back, a continuous surface that is flat or concave and has an area of not less than 54 800 mm²; and

  • (b) for the support of the sides of the infant’s torso, continuous surfaces that are flat or concave and have an area of not less than 30 500 mm² each.

• Marginal note:Contactable surfaces — car bed

  (2) Every car bed must provide

  • (a) for the support of the infant’s back and legs, a continuous surface that is flat or concave and has an area of not less than 71 250 mm²; and

  • (b) for the support of the sides of the infant’s torso and legs, continuous surfaces that are flat or concave and have an area of not less than 39 650 mm² each.

Marginal note:Rigid structural elements

613 Any rigid structural element underlying a contactable surface of a restraint system for infants with special needs must not have

• (a) a protrusion, with any padding or flexible overlay material removed, of more than 9.5 mm; or

• (b) an exposed edge with a radius of less than 6.4 mm.

Marginal note:Surface contactable by head

614 Every surface of a restraint system for infants with special needs that is contactable by the head of an anthropomorphic test device positioned in the restraint system in accordance with, in the case of a car bed, subsection 4.5.2 or 4.6.2 of Test Method 213.5 or, in the case of all other restraint systems for infants with special needs, subsection 4.5.3 or 4.6.3 of Test Method 213.5 must be covered with slow-recovery, energy-absorbing material that, when tested in accordance with section 6 of Test Method 213.5, has

• (a) a resistance of not less than 4 kPa but not more than 70 kPa at 25% of compression-deflection resistance;

• (b) a thickness of not less than 12 mm, if the material has a resistance of not less than 12 kPa but not more than 70 kPa at 25% of compression-deflection resistance; and

• (c) a thickness of not less than 19 mm, if the material has a resistance of not less than 4 kPa but less than 12 kPa at 25% of compression-deflection resistance.

Testing

Marginal note:Dynamic testing

• 615 (1) A restraint system for infants with special needs that is subjected to a dynamic test in accordance with section 4 of Test Method 213.5 must, if the adjustment position of each component of the restraint system is in accordance with the manufacturer’s instructions,

  • (a) exhibit no complete separation of any load-bearing structural element, and no partial separation exposing a surface with

    • (i) a protrusion of more than 9.5 mm, or

    • (ii) a radius of less than 6.4 mm;

  • (b) in the case of a restraint system other than a car bed, remain in the same adjustment position during the test as it was in immediately before the test began, except that, if the restraint system has a means of automatically repositioning the seating surface to allow the anthropomorphic test device to move from a reclined position to a more upright position and back to a reclined position during the test, the seating surface does not have to remain in the same adjustment position during the test as it was in immediately before the test began;

  • (c) in the case of a restraint system other than a car bed, retain the torso of the anthropomorphic test device within the restraint system, and not allow any portion of the target points on either side of the device’s head, located on the transverse axis passing through the centre of mass of the device’s head and perpendicular to the head’s midsagittal plane, to pass at any time, during or immediately after the test, through the transverse orthogonal planes formed by the extension of the seat back frontal surface plane of the restraint system and by the plane that passes through the uppermost point of the restraint system, as shown in Figure 7 of Schedule 7, or through the vertical transverse plane passing through point X on the standard seat assembly, as shown in Figure 8 of Schedule 7;

  • (d) in the case of a restraint system other than a car bed, not allow the angle between the vertical and the back and head support surface, measured 240 mm above the seating surface, to be more than 70° at any time during the test;

  • (e) in the case of a restraint system other than a car bed, limit the movement of the head of the anthropomorphic test device towards the rear of the restraint system by means of a continuous seat back that is an integral part of the restraint system;

  • (f) in the case of a restraint system other than a car bed, limit the rotation of the head of the anthropomorphic test device towards the rear of the restraint system, in its midsagittal plane, by means of a continuous seat back that is an integral part of the restraint system, so that the angle between the head and the torso is at no time during the test more than 45° as compared to the angle between the head and the torso prior to the test; and

  • (g) in the case of a car bed, retain the head, neck and torso of the anthropomorphic test device within the confines of the car bed.

• Marginal note:Dynamic testing — levelling device

  (2) A restraint system for infants with special needs that is equipped with a levelling device and that is subjected to a dynamic test in accordance with section 4 of Test Method 213.5 must conform to the requirements of paragraphs (1)(a) and (b) if the adjustment position of each component of the restraint system, except the levelling device, is in accordance with the manufacturer’s instructions.

• Marginal note:Continuous seat back

  (3) The continuous seat back referred to in paragraphs (1)(e) and (f) must

  • (a) have a height of at least 500 mm;

  • (b) have a width of at least 200 mm, measured in the horizontal plane at the height specified in paragraph (a); and

  • (c) not impose any loads on the top of the head of the anthropomorphic test device during the dynamic test referred to in subsection (1).

• Marginal note:Measurement of height — paragraph 3(a)

  (4) The height referred to in paragraph (3)(a) must be measured in a plane parallel to the surface of the seat back of the restraint system for infants with special needs and orthogonal to the vertical longitudinal plane passing through the longitudinal centreline of the restraint system, from the lowest point of the restraint system’s seating surface that is contacted by the buttocks of the seated anthropomorphic test device.

• Marginal note:Exception

  (5) Despite paragraph (3)(b), if the restraint system for infants with special needs provides surfaces for the support of the sides of the torso, and those surfaces extend at least 100 mm forward from the padded surface of the portion of the restraint system provided for the support of the head of the anthropomorphic test device, the restraint system may have a continuous seat back width of not less than 150 mm, measured in the horizontal plane at the height specified in paragraph (3)(a).

• Marginal note:Restraint system with means of automatic repositioning

  (6) If a restraint system for infants with special needs that has a means of automatically repositioning the seating surface is subjected, in any adjustment position, to a dynamic test in accordance with section 4 of Test Method 213.5, an opening that is exposed and larger than 6.4 mm before the test must not become smaller during the test as a result of the movement of the seating surface relative to the other parts of the restraint system.