scope:

SUMMARY:

This final rule establishes specific test procedures for installing child restraints to a child restraint anchorage system, commonly referred as a ''LATCH'' system, in a front passenger seating position in vehicles certified to meet advanced air bag requirements through the use of a suppression system or a low risk deployment (LRD) system.¹ The test procedures ensure that the child restraints are installed in a repeatable and reproducible manner.

Because vehicle manufacturers need sufficient time to certify that their vehicles meet FMVSS No. 208 suppression or LRD requirements when tested with these procedures, the compliance date of this final rule is September 1, 2008. NHTSA will apply these test procedures to vehicles manufactured on or after September 1, 2008 that have a LATCH system in a frontal seating position and that are certified to meet advanced air bag requirements through the use of a suppression or LRD system.

¹ The LRD option involves deployment of the air bag in the presence of a Child Restraint Air Bag Interaction (CRABI) test dummy, representing a 12-month-old child, in a rear-facing child restraint.