Safety belts are part of a car’s passive safety system. Nevertheless, they perform their functions only if used properly. Do we know how to do it? The poll showed that only 32% drivers and passengers know how to fasten seat belts correctly.

Multiple studies of crash consequences by various institutes, safety centers and labs has showed unconsoling results. When a car collides with a motionless obstacle at 50 kmph the organism of an adult of 80 kg is exposed to a blow equal to 2 tons. In this case a child is hit by a blow equal to 500 kg. For the rear passengers such a collision is dangerous too. At the moment of the crash they can get death injuries of the head by the stands or the top. The middle passenger can even fly out though the windshield.

Even the ones who place safety belts improperly (don’t regulate the tightening) on their bodies can get serious injuries. People who like the reclining position are exposed to s great danger. At the moment of a crash they go down to the floor of the saloon and get spine and head injuries. Moreover, the belt might run onto the throat of the passenger and strangle him. It is not recommended to put feet on the central panel. If the car is equipped with an airbag, it can easily break the feet.

The wrong regulation of safety belts has been cancelled from the end of the 70s by equipping them with automatic idlers with a blocking device. When automatically blocked belts are used, a thick layer of clothing might become a dangerous factor. It creates a kind of pillow that prevents a close contact of the belt and the body. That’s why the belt keeps a person with a great delay. Such a delay might cause a passenger hit the windshield or get a critical blow by the respnded airbag.

The construction of the American safety belts should be paid special attention to. In contrary to the European ones they consist of two separate belts: the diagonal and the lumbar and fasten individually. The research prove that if only the diagonal belt is fastened the risk of getting thorax injuries increased by three times in comparison to when both the belts are fastened. In order the belts could perform its functions both of them must be fastened.

to be continued…

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