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Transport Canada
Disclaimer: These documents are not the official versions (more).

MOTOR VEHICLE SAFETY ACT

Motor Vehicle Safety Regulations

Standard 202



Head Restraints

202. (1) In this section, "H-point machine" and "H-point template" have the same meaning as in SAE Recommended Practice J826, "Devices for Use in Defining and Measuring Vehicle Seating Accommodation" (June 1991).

(2) A head restraint shall be provided at each front outboard designated seating position in a multipurpose passenger vehicle, bus or truck with a GVWR of 4 536 kg or less, a three-wheeled vehicle and a passenger car that

(a) when tested during a forward acceleration of not less than 8 g on the seat supporting structure, limits rearward angular displacement of the head reference line to 45 from the torso reference line; or

(b) when adjusted to its fully extended design position,

(i) has an overall height of not less than 700 mm when measured perpendicularly to a line that passes through the seating reference point and is perpendicular to the torso line,

(ii) has a lateral width of not less than 250 mm in the case of a bench-type seat or 170 mm in the case of an individual seat, when measured either 63 mm below the top of the head restraint or 635 mm above the seating reference point,

(iii) does not allow the rearmost portion of the head form to be displaced more than 102 mm perpendicularly rearward of the extended displaced torso reference line during the application of the test load, and

(iv) withstands an increasing load until either failure of the seat or seat back occurs or the load so increased is equal to 890 N.

(3) The test referred to in paragraph (2)(a) shall be carried out as follows:

(a) the head restraint shall be in its fully extended design position;

(b) reference lines shall be established on the exterior profile of the head and torso of a dummy or an approved equivalent test device by

(i) positioning the dummy's back on a horizontal flat surface with the lumbar joints in a straight line,

(ii) rotating the head of the dummy rearward until the back of the head contacts the surface referred to in subparagraph (i),

(iii) positioning the back of an H-point template against the surface referred to in subparagraph (i) and alongside the dummy in such a manner that the H-point of the template is aligned with the H-point of the dummy,

(iv) establishing the torso line of the H-point template as the line parallel to the small of the back of the template and extending through the H-point,

(v) establishing the dummy torso reference line by superimposing the torso line of the H-point template on the torso of the dummy, and

(vi) establishing the head reference line by extending the dummy torso reference line to the head;

(c) the dummy referred to in paragraph (b) shall have the weight and seated height of a 95th percentile adult male and an approved representation of a human articulated neck structure;

(d) at each designated seating position having a head restraint, the dummy shall be placed in the manufacturer's recommended design seated position and snugly restrained by a Type 1 or Type 2 seat belt assembly referred to in section 209;

(e) a forward acceleration shall be applied to the structure supporting the seat in such a manner that, when graphically depicted, the magnitude of the acceleration curve shall not be less than that of a half-sine wave having an amplitude of 8 g and a duration of 80 milliseconds and not more than that of a half-sine wave having an amplitude of 9.6 g and a duration of 96 milliseconds; and

(f) the maximum rearward angular displacement of the head reference line from the dummy torso reference line shall be measured.

(4) The test referred to in paragraph (2)(b) shall be carried out as follows:

(a) an H-point machine with the centreline of the head-room probe in the full back position shall be placed at the manufacturer's recommended design seated position;

(b) the displaced torso reference line shall be established by applying a rearward moment of 373 N·m about the seating reference point to the seat back through the back pan of the test device so placed;

(c) the back pan shall be removed and, using a 165 mm diameter spherical head form or a cylindrical head form having a 165 mm diameter in plan view and a 153 mm height in profile view, a rearward initial load shall be applied perpendicular to the displaced torso reference line and 65 mm below the top of the head restraint sufficient to produce a 373 N·m moment about the seating reference point; and

(d) the initial load shall be gradually increased to 890 N or until the seat or seat back fails, whichever occurs first.

Established by the CONSOLIDATED REGULATIONS OF CANADA, 1978.

amended by

SOR/95-60 11 January, 1995 pursuant to sections 4 and 7 of the Motor Vehicle Safety Act

Revoked and replaced.

SOR/2003-272 24 July, 2003 pursuant to section 5 and subsection 11(1) of the Motor Vehicle Safety Act, comes into force 24 July, 2003.

The portion of subsection 202(2) of Schedule IV before paragraph (a) is replaced; 


Last updated: 2005-03-02 Top of Page Important Notices