Dan Goor

children, especially infants in rear-facing safety seats in the back seat, cause driver-distraction situations that result in numerous automobile crashes each year," says Dan Goor, Vice President of Technology, Xportation Safety Concepts Inc. and co-author of the paper being presented at the SAE 2001 World Congress, March 5-8, 2001 at Cobo Center, Detroit, Michigan.

Air bags, when properly used, save lives.However, when parents place infants in rear-facing safety seats in the back seat of automobiles, it causes another problem -- driver distraction.The solution, according to Goor, is to have better rear-facing seats that will prevent air bag-induced injuries to infants secured in the front seat.

"There are many reasons to have all kids ride in the back seat -- the most important being the fact that back seats are safer than fronts seats," says Goor, "But distractions to drivers caused by back-seat children pose enormous danger."

According to Goor and co-author Lee Stucki, Stucki Engineering and Information Services, infants in distress require about 10 seconds of attention.
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"Canadian studies offer conclusive evidence that the use of cell phones while driving cause distractions which contribute to, or produce accidents," says Goor.

Instead of the auto industry rushing to develop another type of airbag, this is a viable solution to the problem and it be ready to go now for less than $ 100, said Dan Goor, vice-president of technology for Xportation Safety Concepts Inc. (XSCi) of Colorado Springs, Colo.

Chrysler, the first of the former Big Three to see the airbag-compatible child seat's potential, has tested several prototypes.
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Goor said Chrysler has tested the car seat extensively, as has XSCi, over the past two years.He said his company has spent more than $ 500, 000 to test and design the special safety seat.

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Goor developed the first prototype using plastic ABS tubing and placed an Evenflow car seat in it.

It was crude, but it was to show the concept would work, said Goor.During initial testing, we immediately saw a very significant difference in the way our seat performed, and we moved quickly with the resources we had..

His second prototype was made of electrical conduit and performed better than the first.

By July, 1994, Goor had already contacted Willson at Chrysler.Goor met with Willson and other Chrysler officials and within two months the carmaker offered to test the product at its facilities in Chelsea, Mich.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration's standard for head injury criteria is 1, 000.Goor's seat tested at a HIC of 600 in a test where the lower the number the better.The results were quite fantastic, so we decided to shoot for even lower HIC numbers, said Goor. (The Child Restraint Airbag Interactive Task Force of Detroit) told us their guideline would be a HIC of 390, so we shot for that..

Goor modified the seat some more and did the test the exact same way, ending up with a HIC of 110.In the latest test, the seat had a HIC of 140.Even with testing done at the University of Michigan's Transportation Research Institute, the results were well under 200.In November 1995, Goor was issued a patent for the car seat.Additional tests have been conducted in Germany with a carmaker there.Goor is negotiating right now with a German car company to get the airbag-compatible seats into its vehicles.

Besides Chrysler and the unidentified German carmaker, a German child-restraint company also is considering mass production of the Goor Seat.

Pricing is a big concern of Goor and Chrysler.Right now they be discussing how they could mass produce and distribute the car seat for a reasonable price.we be fighting hard to make sure the seat will be affordable and are very cautious not to allow the seat on the market so only the rich can buy it, said Goor.We want to see it cost between $ 60 and $ 90..

What lies ahead for Goor is trying to convince the NHTSA the seat is so safe that he can advertise the claim that the seat can be used in passenger cars and trucks equipped with frontal airbags.

"It's astounding that with hundreds of thousands of children riding in pickups and 2-seat vehicles each year, there is still so little attention given to this increasingly dangerous situation," says Dan Goor, Vice President of XSCi (and head of the engineering team that first created antilock brakes).

WARRENDALE , Pa. , Feb. 27 /PRNewswire/ -- Studies demonstrate that children , especially infants in rear-facing safety seats in the back seat , cause driver-distraction situations that result in numerous automobile crashes each year , says Dan Goor , Vice President of Technology , Xportation Safety Concepts Inc. and co-author of the paper being presented at the SAE 2001 World Congress , March 5-8 , 2001 at Cobo Center , Detroit , Michigan.

Air bags , when properly used , save lives.However , when parents place infants in rear-facing safety seats in the back seat of automobiles , it causes another problem -- driver distraction.The solution , according to Goor , is to have better rear-facing seats that will prevent air bag-induced injuries to infants secured in the front seat.

There are many reasons to have all kids ride in the back seat -- the most important being the fact that back seats are safer than fronts seats , says Goor , But distractions to drivers caused by back-seat children pose enormous danger..

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Canadian studies offer conclusive evidence that the use of cell phones while driving cause distractions which contribute to , or produce accidents , says Goor.Are distractions caused by infants in the back seat any less distracting than cell phones.Shouldn't placing infants in the back seat be viewed as a temporary solution until a better one is found?.

The better solution is a rear-facing infant seat in the front passenger seat that withstands the force of air bag deployment and keeps the infant safe from injury.

Air Bags and Infants : The Need for Placing Rear-Facing Infants in the Back Seat Brings About Accident-Causing Distractions , Paper # 2001-01-0050 , will be presented on March 5 at 1 p.m. in Room DO-07 , Cobo Center.

"It's astounding that hundreds of thousands of children ride unsafely in pickups and 2-seat vehicles each year," says Dan Goor, Vice President of XSCi Technology
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"It's astounding that hundreds of thousands of children ride unsafely in pickups and 2-seat vehicles each year," says Dan Goor, Vice President of XSCi Technology (and head of the engineering team that first created antilock brakes).

Mr. Dan Goor GA International, Inc. (GAI)

Mr. Dan Goor GA International, Inc. (GAI)expertwitness.com - GA International, Inc. (GAI) Mr. Dan Goor
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Mr. Dan Goor

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