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P.I.C.R.A.C. (Pacific Infant / Child Restraint Advisory Committee)

Mission Statement & Goals

To reduce injuries to infants and children resulting from motor vehicle collisions, by increasing the correct use and installation of approved infant/child restraints in passenger vehicles.

Seat Belt Adjustment Recommendations

The Provincial Infant/Child Restraint Advisory Committee (PICRAC) does NOT recommend the use or sale of add-on after-market seat belt adjustment devices.

There are no Canadian safety standards which apply to such devices. They are considered by Transport Canada to be "after-market" devices and Transport Canada has no authority to regulate them under the federal Motor Vehicle Safety Act. That means that while there is no evidence that these devices are unsafe, there is no standard to determine that they are safe.

PICRAC's chief concern is that seat belt adjusters, in changing the geometry of the seat belt, may lift the lap portion of the belt upward into a dangerous position over the abdomen. Research indicates that severe and fatal abdominal injuries can be caused by the intrusion of the lap belt into the soft abdominal contents during frontal impacts. There is also the possibility that a seat belt adjuster may introduce slack into the seat belt which would not retract during a collision. Field accident studies show that additional slack in the seat belt will reduce the potential effectiveness of seat belts.

Finally, the use of an add-on seat belt adjustment device may encourage parents to remove a child from an approved restraint system earlier than advised (and safe) if the path of the belt system is artificially modified to fit the child. Further enquiries regarding add-on "after-market" seat belt adjusters may be sent to:

PICRAC
P.O. Box 54048
Lonsdale West P.O.
North Vancouver, B.C.
V7M 3L5

P.I.C.R.A.C. Member Agencies

• B.C. Automobile Association
• B.C. Automobile Dealers Association
• B.C. Reproductive Care Program
• Children's & Women's Health Centre of BC
• Insurance Corporation of British Columbia
• Ministry of Children and Families Public Health Division
• RONA Kinetics and Associates Ltd.
• Royal Canadian Mounted Police Traffic Services
• Safe Journeys, Ladysmith
• Safe Ride News, Washington State
• Safe Start, B.C. Children's Hospital
• South Fraser Child Development Centre
• T.J.'s the Kiddies Store
• Vancouver Police Department Traffic Services
• Washington State Safety Restraint Coalition

Associate Members

• B.C. Medical Association
• B.C. Safety Council
• Government of the Yukon Transport Services Branch
• Infant & Toddler Safety Association Kitchener, Ontario
• The University of Michigan Child Passenger Protection Program
• Washington Traffic Safety Commission

Ex-Officio

• Ministry of Health
• Office for Injury Prevention