I 

114TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 4573 

To provide for research on the use of child restraint devices on commercial 

aircraft. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

FEBRUARY 12, 2016 

Mr. PERLMUTTER introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 

Committee on Science, Space, and Technology 

A BILL 

To provide for research on the use of child restraint devices 

on commercial aircraft. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Lap Children Safety 

5 Research Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. LAP CHILDREN SAFETY RESEARCH. 

7 (a) IN GENERAL.—Due to the fact that few child re8 straint devices are currently approved for use during crit9 ical phases of flight on commercial passenger aircraft, the 

10 Administrator of the Federal Aviation Administration 


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1 shall ensure that research in this area encourages the as2 sessment and development of new and innovative tech3 nologies and devices which improve the safety for children, 

4 parents, and other passengers. 

5 (b) RESEARCH.—The Administrator shall require the 

6 Civil Aeromedical Institute to initiate a research program 

7 focused on improving the safety of child restraint devices 

8 used during operations of a commercial passenger aircraft. 

9 (c) REPORT.—Not later than 1 year after the date 

10 of enactment of this Act, the Administrator shall transmit 

11 a report on the results of the research conducted under 

12 this section to the Committee on Science, Space, and 

13 Technology of the House of Representatives and the Com14 mittee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation of the 

15 Senate. This report shall include— 

16 (1) an identification of the number of children 

17 under age 2 traveling each year for the past 5 years 

18 on commercial aircraft, and a description of the 

19 types or methods of child restraint utilized, if any; 

20 (2) an assessment of the safety of unrestrained 

21 lap children under age 2 (being unrestrained or re22 strained only by the arms of the child’s parent), and 

23 whether this situation is the proper comparison for 

24 child restraint devices to determine child safety; 


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1 (3) an evaluation of the requirements to dem2 onstrate an equivalent level of safety to TSO–C100c 

3 for a child restraint device attached to a parent’s 

4 seatbelt, or other known child restraint devices; 

5 (4) an assessment of whether the standards in 

6 section 571.213 of title 49, Code of Federal Regula7 tions, can be met by a child restraint device attached 

8 to a parent’s seatbelt, or other known child restraint 

9 devices, and whether certain child restraint devices 

10 could offer additional protection compared to an un11 restrained lap child; 

12 (5) the results of any testing performed by or 

13 for the Civil Aeromedical Institute, in the last 5 

14 years, in support of any evaluations described in this 

15 section; 

16 (6) a determination of whether the conclusions 

17 in the Civil Aeromedical Institute’s 1994 report ti18 tled ‘‘The Performance of Child Restraint Devices in 

19 Transport Airplane Passenger Seats’’ need to be up20 dated and the basis for such determination; and 

21 (7) recommendations to the Administrator and 

22 to the Congress on potential changes to the Code of 

23 Federal Regulations or relevant laws to allow addi24 tional child restraint devices to be used during all 


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1 phases of flight to keep children, their parents, and 

2 other passengers safe. 

Æ 


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