The Car: Tot Guard

Seat belts may be all right for adults, but try keeping a squirming five-year-old child buckled up for a long automobile ride. It cannot be done, short of resorting to chloroform. Last week the Ford Motor Co. showed off its answer: a 5-lb. padded plastic body shield called the “Tot Guard.” The child sits on a molded seat; then a loosely fitting, one-piece leg-and-body “cast” is placed over him. The seat belt loops around in front to secure the entire apparatus, allowing the child to move around inside his cast but also to stay in one place.

Ford engineers have tested the device extensively on their own children and claim that the kids ride contentedly for as long as four hours at a time. The Tot Guard will be available at Ford dealers next month at $19.95.