Lap Children Safety Research Act

To provide for research on the use of child restraint devices on commercial aircraft. 1. Short title This Act may be cited as the Lap Children Safety Research Act 2. Lap children safety research (a) In general Due to the fact that few child restraint devices are currently approved for use during critical phases of flight on commercial passenger aircraft, the Administrator of the Federal Aviation Administration shall ensure that research in this area encourages the assessment and development of new and innovative technologies and devices which improve the safety for children, parents, and other passengers. (b) Research The Administrator shall require the Civil Aeromedical Institute to initiate a research program focused on improving the safety of child restraint devices used during operations of a commercial passenger aircraft. (c) Report Not later than 1 year after the date of enactment of this Act, the Administrator shall transmit a report on the results of the research conducted under this section to the Committee on Science, Space, and Technology of the House of Representatives and the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation of the Senate. This report shall include— (1) an identification of the number of children under age 2 traveling each year for the past 5 years on commercial aircraft, and a description of the types or methods of child restraint utilized, if any; (2) an assessment of the safety of unrestrained lap children under age 2 (being unrestrained or restrained only by the arms of the child’s parent), and whether this situation is the proper comparison for child restraint devices to determine child safety; (3) an evaluation of the requirements to demonstrate an equivalent level of safety to TSO–C100c for a child restraint device attached to a parent’s seatbelt, or other known child restraint devices; (4) an assessment of whether the standards in section 571.213 of title 49, Code of Federal Regulations, can be met by a child restraint device attached to a parent’s seatbelt, or other known child restraint devices, and whether certain child restraint devices could offer additional protection compared to an unrestrained lap child; (5) the results of any testing performed by or for the Civil Aeromedical Institute, in the last 5 years, in support of any evaluations described in this section; (6) a determination of whether the conclusions in the Civil Aeromedical Institute’s 1994 report titled The Performance of Child Restraint Devices in Transport Airplane Passenger Seats (7) recommendations to the Administrator and to the Congress on potential changes to the Code of Federal Regulations or relevant laws to allow additional child restraint devices to be used during all phases of flight to keep children, their parents, and other passengers safe.

Summary: Lap Children Safety Research Act This bill requires the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to ensure that research on child restraint devices for use during critical phases of flight on commercial passenger aircraft encourages the assessment and development of new and innovative technologies and devices that improve safety for children, parents, and other passengers. The FAA shall require the Civil Aeromedical Institute to initiate a research program focused on improving the safety of such devices and report to Congress on the results, including recommended changes to federal laws and regulations to allow additional devices to be used to keep children, their parents, and other passengers safe.