Update on the Effectiveness of High Retention Seats in Preventing Fatal Injury in Rear Impacts

摘要

Purpose: Starting in 1997, General Motors (GM) introduced high retention seats in new model vehicles to improve rear impact safety. The seat allowed the occupant to pocket into the seatback and had increased strength and improved head restraint coverage. The initial 4-year safety trends were evaluated using the 1991-2000 Fatality Analysis Reporting System (FARS). The reduction in odds of fatal injury was 30.4% (95% confidence interval [CI], 0.9-51.1, P <.05). This study updates the earlier one by adding 8years of FARS data.