This rulemaking amends Title 49 of the Code of Federal Regulations, Part 572 by adding a new subpart describing a weighted version of the current Hybrid III six-year-old child size dummy, which has been referred to as HIII-6C. The new weighted version of this dummy weighs 62 pounds, referred to as HIII-6CW, and is approximately ten pounds heavier than the current HIII-6C.
This new dummy (HIII-6CW) is required for use in compliance tests (effective January 5, 2005) under the Federal child restraint standard to test the structural integrity of child restraints recommended for use by children weighing over 50 pounds.
Incorporation of this weighted 6-year-old dummy is viewed as an interim measure until such time as a Hybrid III 10-year-old dummy (referred to as HIII-10C), now under development, becomes available. At the request of NHTSA, the Dummy Family Task Group of the Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE-DFTG) has taken the lead in designing and developing this new HIII-10C dummy. Development of the 10-year-old dummy has been further reinforced by a directive from Congress, that requires the Secretary of Transportation to "develop and evaluate an anthropomorphic test device that simulates a 10-year old child for use in testing child restraints used in passenger motor vehicles."
NHTSA originally considered using all the measurement capabilities of this new weighted dummy in FMVSS No. 213 compliance tests, including injury measurements to a child's head, the neck, and the chest, as well as other body regions. However, because of concerns about the biofidelity of this weighted dummy, NHTSA decided to use the HIII-6CW only to test the structural integrity of child restraints.