In keeping with Volvo's core value emphasis on safe and reliable family transportation, Stadel Volvo has a Safe Kids Certified Child Seat Technician on staff to assist you in the selection and proper installation of the appropriate child restraint for your child or grandchild.

"Child Safety by Volvo" from 1964 to present: view HERE

Call 569-1050 to make an appointment.


Shown below are the various rear seat configurations available in a Volvo XC70 Family Crossover when using a Maxi-Cosi mico installed in the right outboard position as pictured above..

         
    PA Motor Vehicle Code now requires that all children 2 years and under MUST be secured in a "Rear-Facing" seat restraint

Volvo Child Booster Seats Recognized
At this year's World Traffic Safety Symposium a panel of judges from Dept. of Transportation, National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, Automobile Association of America Foundation for Traffic Safety, National Road Safety Foundation, and New York Police Department Traffic Safety Division awarded Volvo first prize in the Automotive Manufacturer category for this innovative safety feature. The award stands among three other safety acknowledgements: Public Service, Media Activity and Aftermarket Product Design. "Our goal is to help protect occupants. This award acknowledges our efforts to help protect our smallest passengers, our children," commented Thomas Broberg, Senior Safety Advisor, Volvo Car Corporation, Sweden. "This new seat, in conjunction with our refinements in side body structure and the inflatable curtain will have a significant reduction in child injuries."

Safety Potential Prediction
Seat belt positioning for children of different heights is important for better placement and protection. Several studies have shown that proper positioning with the use of a booster cushion helps reduce abdominal injuries caused by the child slipping under the seat belt. Field data in several studies supports these findings and emphasizes the importance of booster seats, and that the booster be designed to hold the belt firmly across the pelvis or thighs during a frontal impact. The overall effectiveness (Maximum Abbreviated Injury Scale) of booster seats is estimated as 31 percent as compared to using only a seat belt and as high as 75 percent as compared to no restraint at all. Getting all children of appropriate age and size to use booster cushion offers a potentially significant safety benefit.

Booster Cushion Usage
For children using a booster cushion different types of misuse varies depending on which study is analyzed, but the share is significant. According to a study carried out by National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA, 2004), 39.5 percent of the 664 children inspected in belt-positioning booster cushion were considered as critical misuse. The most common occurring misuse was improper fitment of the shoulder belt followed by loose belt, improper fit of the lap belt and inappropriate age/fit. In Germany, the misuse rate was reported to be 46.8 percent. A Spanish study identified that nearly 50 percent of the children aged 6 to 12 restrained with a child restraint had some type of misuse, the most common being the seat belt placed behind the child.


Children's Attitudes Toward Booster Cushion
A questionnaire-based study[1] on 4 to 11 year old Australian children reported that one of the reasons for moving the child from a booster to the adult seat belt only (69 percent) was primarily that the child was too big for the booster. Another major reason was the child disliked sitting in a booster and would be more comfortable using only the seat belt and, not surprisingly, the child thought they were too 'grown-up' for a booster cushion. The study concluded that the design of booster cushions should have the capacity to seat larger children as well as being more appealing to children. By offering the integrated two-stage booster cushions, Volvo believes the level of acceptance will increase among this age group.

Combined Safety System
"We took into account the child's physical size and weight, seat belt misuse, child physiology, along with redesigning our vehicle side body structure and side impact inflatable curtain to come up with this new integrated two-step booster seat," noted Broberg. "There will be better fitment of our three-point seat belt, a wider age and weight range, and better attitude for the child who can now easily see outside with the added benefit of reducing driver distraction. Hopefully we will hear less often: 'Are we there yet?'"

[1] Charlton J, Koppel S, Fitzharris M, Congiu M, Fildes B. Appropriate Use of Booster Seats and Seatbelts by Australian children Aged 4-11 Years. 4th Int. Conf. Protection of Children in Cars, München, Germany, 2006

Booster Seats, Inflatable Curtain, Side Impact simulation

Seat Belt Use during Pregnancy

Crash Test Mommy

Many people owe their lives to auto safety innovations pioneered by Volvo Car Corporation. Now, with the development of a ground-breaking "pregnant crash test dummy", Volvo's award-winning Safety Center in Gothenburg, Sweden, hopes to design cars that can better protect pregnant women and their unborn babies.

Linda is the shape, size and weight of an average pregnant American woman. She has ribs, a pelvis, soft abdominal tissue, uterus, placenta, amniotic fluid and a 36-week-old fetus named Kira.

And she lives inside a computer in Sweden.

Linda is a "virtual" pregnant crash test dummy, a sophisticated computer model of a woman in the final stages of pregnancy, when risk to the fetus is greatest. Using Volvo's unique software, her body size and stage of pregnancy can also be reset to test different vehicle safety systems.

Since her completion in early 2002, Linda has generated important, previously unobtainable data. Volvo is learning how the safety belt, air bag and steering wheel affect the uterus, placenta and baby in various impacts. Volvo is also able to study how the baby moves in relation to the mother's body and has been able to test new conceptual designs for safety belts and safety systems.

According to Laura Thackray, CAE and Biomechanical Engineer at the Volvo Safety Center: "While the uterus is elastic and can change shape, we think the placenta may become detached because it's not as resilient to the forces sustained during an accident. We think this might be the case, but we don't know. That's why our model is so important. We have to learn more to be able to protect the fetus in the best possible way.

"From the simulation results with Linda, and ergonomics studies performed here at Volvo Cars, I'm certain that there's potential for further development of today's safety systems, especially the safety belt, to provide optimized usability and protection for pregnant women and their unborn babies."

Volvo's aim, using Linda, is to develop future safety systems that help to better protect the unborn. In the meantime, should pregnant women stop using seat belts? "No," warns Thackray. "The seat belt is still the best line of protection for pregnant women and their unborn babies."

It is advice a surprising number of women would do well to heed. A survey carried out in the U.S. by Volvo Cars discovered that up to 13% of women actually use their seat belts less in late pregnancy, complaining they "chafed," "might affect the baby" or "were difficult to put on."

Studies conducted by Dr. Harold Weiss of the University of Pittsburgh's Center for Injury show that car crashes are in fact the leading cause of hospital visits and fatalities during pregnancy. For unborn children, they are the leading cause of injury mortality, exceeding the frequency of infant crash deaths several-fold.

These sobering statistics tell us two important things. One: that pregnant women must buckle up, no matter what. And two: that the research and development work being done by Laura Thackray and the rest of the team at the Volvo Safety Center is critically important work for the safety of unborn children.

Volvo's list of firsts in car safety is an impressive one. Safety glass windshields (1927). Steel cage to protect passengers (1944). Three-point lap/shoulder seat belts (1958). Antilock brakes (1984). Side Impact Air Bags (1995). Whiplash Protection Seating System (2000). Roll Stability Control System (2003). Thanks to the development of Linda, Volvo believes the next major improvement in vehicle safety will benefit pregnant women and their unborn children.

For more information on Volvo child safety, go to www.volvocars.us/childsafety


Moms-to-be: There's a right way to wear your seatbelt

The seatbelt should always be worn during pregnancy. But it is crucial that it be worn in the correct way. The diagonal section should wrap over the shoulder then be routed between the breasts and to the side of the belly. The lap section should lie flat over the thighs and as low as possible under the belly. It must never be allowed to ride upward. Remove all slack from the belt and ensure that it fits close to the body without any twists.

As a pregnancy progresses, pregnant drivers should adjust their seats and steering wheel such that they can easily maintain control of the vehicle as they drive (which means they must be able to easily operate the foot pedals and steering wheel). Within this context, they should strive to position the seat with as large a distance as possible between their belly and the steering wheel.

Insurance Institute for Highway Safety Names Volvo Booster Best Bet

ARLINGTON, VA - Booster seats are meant to do one thing - elevate children so that safety belts designed for adults are in the right position to restrain kids during a crash. Thirteen of the 41 belt-positioning booster seats the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety evaluated with the University of Michigan Transportation Research Institute did such a poor job of improving the fit of lap and shoulder belts for children that the Institute doesn't recommend them at all. Ten models are best bets and 5 are good bets. These evaluations are the first to tell consumers how well boosters sold by US retailers improve belt fit for children in cars, minivans, and SUVs. The Institute plans to continue these assessments.

Best bets and good bets: The 10 best-bet boosters are the most likely to position not only lap belts but also shoulder portions correctly on many children in many vehicles. Best bets include 3 backless seats: Combi Kobuk, Fisher-Price Safe Voyage, and Graco TurboBooster. These may require plastic clips to correctly position shoulder belts. Six highbacks are best bets: Britax Monarch, Britax Parkway, Fisher-Price Safe Voyage, LaRoche Bros. Teddy Bear, Recaro Young Style, and Volvo booster cushion. Another best bet is the combination seat Safeguard Go when it's used as a backless booster. Combination seats convert to boosters by removing their built-in harnesses. 


Best Bets

  • Graco TurboBooster backless with clip
  • Fisher-Price Safe Voyage backless with clip
  • Combi Kobuk backless with clip
  • Fisher-Price Safe Voyage
  • Britax Parkway
  • LaRoche Bros. Teddy Bear
  • Safeguard Go backless with clip
  • Volvo booster cushion
  • Recaro Young Style
  • Britax Monarch

Volvo's Crash Focus for Pregnant Occupants