 A three-point seat belt. A seat belt, sometimes called a safety belt, is a harness designed to secure the occupant of a car or other vehicle against harmful movement that may result from a collision or a sudden stop. As part of an overall occupant restraint system, seat belts are intended to reduce injuries by stopping the wearer from hitting hard interior elements of the vehicle or other passengers and by preventing the wearer from being thrown from the vehicle. Image File history File links Seatbelt. ...
Karl Benzs Velo (vélo means bicycle in French) model (1894) - entered into the first automobile race 2005 MINI Cooper S. An automobile (also motor car or simply car) is a wheeled passenger vehicle that carries its own motor. ...
The Trikke is a Human Powered Vehicle (HPV) This article is about the means of transport. ...
For other uses, see Collision (disambiguation). ...
Injury is damage or harm caused to the structure or function of the body caused by an outside agent or force, which may be physical or chemical. ...
Types of seat belts
- Lap: Adjustable strap that goes over the waist. Used frequently in older cars, now uncommon except in some rear middle seats. Passenger aircraft seats also use lap seat belts.
- Two-point: A restraint system with two attachment points. A lap belt or (less commonly) diagonal belt (rare, common prior to the 1990s).
- Automatic: Any seat belt that closes itself automatically. There is also a lap belt which should be fastened.
- Sash: Adjustable strap that goes over the shoulder. Used mainly in the 1960s, but of limited benefit because it is very easy to slip out of in a collision.
- Lap and Sash: Combination of the two above (two separate belts). Mainly used in the 1960s and 1970s. Generally superseded by three-point design.
- Three-point: Similar to the lap and sash, but one single continuous length of webbing. Both three-point and lap-and-sash belts help spread out the energy of the moving body in a collision over the chest, pelvis, and shoulders. Until the 1980s three-point belts were commonly available only in the front seats of cars, the back seats having only lap belts. Evidence of the potential for lap belts to cause separation of the lumbar vertebrae and the sometimes associated paralysis, or "seat belt syndrome", has led to a revision of safety regulations in nearly all of the developed world requiring that all seats in a vehicle be equipped with three-point belts. By September 1, 2007, all new cars sold in the US will require a lap and shoulder belt in the center rear.[1]
- Criss Cross Belt: Experimental safety belt presented in the Volvo SCC. It forms a cross-brace across the chest [2].
- Five-point harnesses are safer but more restrictive seat belts. They are typically found in child safety seats and in racing cars. The lap portion is connected to a belt between the legs and there are two shoulder belts, making a total of five points of attachment to the seat. (Strictly speaking, harnesses are never to be fastened to the seat - they should be fastened to the frame/sub-frame of the automobile.)
- Six-point harnesses is like a five-point harness but includes an extra belt between the legs. These belts are used mainly in racing. In NASCAR, the six-point harness became popular after the death of Dale Earnhardt. Earnhardt was wearing a five-point harness when he crashed and died. Because it was thought at first that his belt had broken, some teams ordered a six-point harness. The sixth point has two belts between the legs, which is seen by some to be a weaker point than the other parts.
- Inertia reel: Used almost universally today, inertia reel belts are effectively self-adjusting, which improves effectiveness. They also retract when not in use, reducing the chances of damage to the belts. A retractor reel lets out the strap or pulls it back as needed, and in the event of an accident the reel locks, preventing any more strap to come out and holding the passenger in the car. This may be augmented by pretensioners (see below). Most three-point belts are of inertia-reel construction, as are some lap-and-sash and lap belts.
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Image File history File linksMetadata Download high-resolution version (768x1024, 298 KB) File links The following pages on the English Wikipedia link to this file (pages on other projects are not listed): Seat belt User:Edward/Images Metadata This file contains additional information, probably added from the digital camera or...
The Citro n BX was introduced in 1982 and was a somewhat radical car compared to many of its contemporaries. ...
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The lumbar vertebrae are the largest segments of the movable part of the vertebral column, and can be distinguished by the absence of a foramen (hole) in the transverse process, and by the absence of facets on the sides of the body. ...
Paralysis is the complete loss of muscle function for one or more muscle groups. ...
The Volvo Safety Concept Car (SCC) is a concept car which was first showed at the 2001 North American International Auto Show in Detroit, Michigan. ...
Image File history File links Harness. ...
Image File history File links Harness. ...
This article or section does not adequately cite its references or sources. ...
Auto racing (also known as automobile racing or autosport) is a sport involving racing automobiles. ...
In common usage, a human leg is the lower limb of the body, extending from the hip to the ankle, and including the thigh, the knee, and the cnemis. ...
This article is about the elder Dale Earnhardt. ...
History Seat belts were invented by George Cayley in the 1800s.[citation needed] They were introduced in aircraft for the first time in 1913, by Adolphe Pegoud, who became the first man to fly a plane upside-down. However, seat belts did not become common on aircraft until the 1930s. Sir George Cayley Sir George Cayley, 6th Baronet (27 December 1773–15 December 1857) was an exuberant English polymath from Brompton-by-Sawdon, near Scarborough in Yorkshire. ...
Beginning of the Napoleonic Wars (1805 - 1815). ...
Adolphe Celestin Pegoud (1889-1915) was a well known French aviator who became the first fighter ace. ...
The 1930s (years from 1930–1939) were described as an abrupt shift to more radical and conservative lifestyles, as countries were struggling to find a solution to the Great Depression, also known in Europe as the World Depression. ...
Edward J. Claghorn was granted U.S. Patent 312,085 on February 10, 1885 for a safety belt providing protection for a person ascending or descending a ladder or pole. February 10 is the 41st day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ...
1885 (MDCCCLXXXV) is a common year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Saturday of the 12-day slower Julian calendar). ...
Edward J. Hock invented the safety belt first used by the Ford Motor Company as standard equipment, while he was on active duty with the military as a flight instructor. In 1955 his idea was accepted by the naval authorities, and Hock was awarded $20.50 for his invention. The original schematic and blueprints shows that he utilized scrap parachute strapping to implement his idea. He was never awarded anything other than the $20.50 award, and a letter of recognition, a picture with the 'brass', and a newspaper article to his credit. Ford Motor Company is an American multinational corporation and the worlds third largest automaker after Toyota and General Motors, based on worldwide vehicle sales. ...
Modern blueprint of the French galleon La Belle. ...
This article refers to the device for slowing descent through the air. ...
Nils Bohlin of Sweden invented the three point seat belt for Volvo, who introduced it in 1959 as standard equipment. Bohlin was granted U.S. Patent 3,043,625 for the device. Nils Ivar Bohlin (July 17, 1920 – September 26, 2002) was a Swedish inventor who invented the three-point safety belt while working at Volvo. ...
Volvo Cars is the premium car maker using the brand Volvo. ...
Most US automobiles were sold with front seat belts standard in the 1964 model year. Rear seat belts were made standard in 1968.
Mechanism
 Seat Belt uncovered Inertial Reel Most seat belts are equipped with locking mechanisms that tighten the belt when pulled hard (e.g. by the force of a passenger's body during a crash) but do not tighten when pulled slowly. This is implemented with a centrifugal clutch, which engages as the reel spins quickly. Alternatively, they may also be secured by a weighted pendulum or ball bearing: when these are deflected by deceleration or roll-over they lock into pawls on the reel. Image File history File links Download high-resolution version (1536x2048, 502 KB) File links The following pages on the English Wikipedia link to this file (pages on other projects are not listed): Seat belt ...
Image File history File links Download high-resolution version (1536x2048, 502 KB) File links The following pages on the English Wikipedia link to this file (pages on other projects are not listed): Seat belt ...
Types of inertia reel type seatbelts:
NLR (No Locking Retractor) - Generally applies to a recoiling lapbelt
ELR V (Emergency Locking Retractor - Vehicle sensitive) - Single sensitive, is comprised of a locking mechanism activated in an emergency by deceleration or rollover of the vehicle (ie the seatbelt is vehicle sensitive).
ELR VW (Emergency Locking Retractor - Vehicle and Webbing sensitive) - Dual sensitive means a seatbelt retractor that, during normal driving conditions, allows freedom of movement by the wearer of the seatbelt by means of length- adjusting components that automatically adjust the strap to the wearer, and that is activated by two or more of the following: a)deceleration or rollover of the vehicle,(V)or b)acceleration of the strap from the retractor,(W)or c)other means of activation.
Pretensioners and webclamps Seatbelts in many newer vehicles are also equipped with 'pretensioners' and/or 'Webclamps'. A three-point seat belt. ...
A three-point seat belt. ...
- Pretensioners preemptively tighten the belt to prevent the occupant from jerking forward in a crash. Mercedes-Benz first introduced pretensioners on the 1981 S-Class. In the event of a crash, a pretensioner will tighten the belt almost instantaneously. This reduces the load on the occupant in a violent crash. Like airbags, pretensioners are triggered by sensors in the car's body, and most pretensioners use explosively expanding gas to drive a piston that retracts the belt. Pretensioners also lower the risk of "submarining", which is when a passenger slides forward under a loosely worn seat belt.
- Webclamps clamp the webbing in the event of an accident and limit the distance the webbing can spool out (caused by the unused webbing tightening on the central drum of the mechanism)these belts also often incorporate "Rip stitching" which is when the lower part of the webbing is looped and stitched with a special stitching. The function of this is to 'rip' at a predetermined pressure rather than risk internal injuries to the occupants.
There is some research and tort liability case findings which suggest that some seatbelts are subject to inertial release. Although the NHTSA has been urged to deal with this defect it has yet not been properly addressed. "In 1992, the Institute for Injury Reduction (IIR) petitioned NHTSA to investigate such defects, but after several months, NHTSA denied the petition. Its own laboratory results indicated that inertial forces could cause a buckle to open, but that it didn’t happen in real world accidents." Source: Seat Belt Defects For a complete overview of all S-Class models see Mercedes-Benz S-Class. ...
For the Mozilla crash reporting software previously called Airbag, see Breakpad. ...
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA, often pronounced nit-suh) is a U.S. Government agency, part of the Department of Transportation, responsible for setting safety standards and verifying compliance by automobile manufacturers. ...
Reminder chime and light In North America and some other parts of the world, cars sold since the early 1970s have included a seat belt light on the dashboard, reminding the driver and passengers to buckle up. These systems also included a warning buzzer which sounded for several seconds before turning off (with the warning light), regardless of whether the car was started. New cars sold in the United States in 1974 and the first part of the 1975 model year were sold with a special "ignition interlock," whereby the driver could not start the car until the seat belt was fastened; however, this system was short-lived.
By the early 1980s, many car makers selling in the US market had replaced the buzzer (along with all other buzzers for functions such as headlights-on) with a seatbelt warning chime, though for some models, this change was not implemented until the 1990s or even the early 2000s. Today, many of these carmakers use a red figure with its seatbelt on to serve as its seatbelt warning light, and it may stay on or flash for several minutes after the car is started and the driver's seat belt is not fastened.
Volvo used a similar flashing indicator that intentionally emits audible "clicks" (from the turn signal relay) until the front seat belts have been fastened.
Legislation and risk compensation The issue of seat belt legislation has been a source of some controversy. Hospital based studies[citation needed] of car accident victims, experiments using both crash test dummies and actual human cadavers have indicated that wearing seat belts should provide a reduced risk of death and injury in many types of car crash. This has led many countries to adopt mandatory seat belt wearing laws. It is generally accepted that, in comparing like-for-like accidents, a vehicle occupant wearing a properly fitted seat belt has a significantly lower chance of death or serious injury. Seat belt legislation is a law or laws put in place to enforce or require the wearing of seat belts while person is driving, or there are passengers in the front or back seats. ...
A physician visiting the sick in a hospital. ...
This article or section does not cite any references or sources. ...
In the scientific method, an experiment (Latin: ex-+-periri, of (or from) trying), is a set of actions of going to the bathroom. ...
Crash test dummies have saved many thousands of lives. ...
A cadaver is a dead body. ...
This article or section does not adequately cite its references or sources. ...
The effects of such laws are disputed, stemming from the observed fact that no country is able to demonstrate a reduction in road fatalities due to passage of a seat belt law, though deaths have in some cases been migrated from drivers to other road users. This has influenced the development of risk compensation theory, which says that drivers adjust their behaviour in response to the increased sense of personal safety wearing a seat belt provides. In one trial subjects were asked to drive go-karts around a track under various conditions. It was found that subjects who started driving unbelted drove consistently faster when subsequently belted.[1] Similarly, a study of habitual non-seatbelt wearers driving in freeway conditions found evidence that they had adapted to seatbelt use by adopting higher driving speeds and closer following distances[2] (similar responses have been shown in respect of anti-lock braking system and, more recently, airbags). It is also possible that the types of injury modelled in the trials were only a subset of potential serious injuries — for example, oblique impacts may produce twisting forces on the head leading to diffuse axonal injury, a particularly serious type of brain injury. In ethology, risk compensation (sometimes known as risk homeostasis) is an effect whereby individual animals may tend to adjust their behaviour in response to perceived changes in risk. ...
An anti-lock braking system (ABS) is a system on motor vehicles which prevents the wheels from locking while braking. ...
Diffuse axonal injury (DAI) is a type of brain injury that is the result of traumatic deceleration injuries of the brain. ...
Thus if one is involved in a crash, one is almost always better off wearing a seat belt. However, the probability of being in a crash may be increased by the fact that one feels safer due to this seatbelt, so the overall safety benefit may be offset, to a presently unknown degree. [original research?] [verification needed]
References - ^ An experimental test of risk compensation: between-subject versus within-subject analyses Streff FM and Geller ES, Accident Analysis and Prevention, Aug;20(4):277-87. 1988
- ^ Janssen, W. Seat belt wearing and driving behaviour: An instrumented-vehicle study. Accident Analysis and Prevention.1994 Apr; Vol 26(2): 249-2
See also Automobile safety is the avoidance of automobile accidents or the minimization of harmful effects of accidents, in particular as pertaining to human life and health. ...
Seat belt legislation is a law or laws put in place to enforce or require the wearing of seat belts while person is driving, or there are passengers in the front or back seats. ...
Seat belt use rates in the USA have been rising steadily since 1984. ...
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