FMVSS 225 requires manufacturers of motor vehicles and child restraint systems to provide consumers with the equipment that will lead to improved child safety. The new standard requires all passenger cars, trucks and multipurpose vehicles of 8,500 pounds gross vehicle weight rating (GVWR) or less and all buses (including school buses) of 10,000 pounds GVWR or less, to be equipped with:
1. Two child restraint anchorage systems (rigid 6 mm bars) in rear seating positions with tether anchorages, plus a tether anchorage in a third seating position (if there are three or more rear seating positions),
2. If an air bag cutoff switch is provided that deactivates the air bag for the front passenger position, one child restraint anchorage system must be provided in that position, and another anchorage system in a rear seating position. If there is no rear seat and no air bag cutoff switch, a full child seat anchorage system would be disallowed in the front passenger seat but a tether anchor would be required at each front passenger seat.
3. A built-in child restraint may be substituted at one of the three required positions, but not all. Rear-facing built-in systems are currently unavailable, and it is desirable to maintain this seating option, which would be precluded if all positions had built-in forward-facing systems.