Citation

Vulcan AP. Proc. Am. Assoc. Automot. Med. Annu. Conf. 1963; 7: 468-469.

Copyright

(Copyright © 1963, Association for the Advancement of Automotive Medicine)

DOI

unavailable

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

In regard to automotive seat belts, we have a standard which incorporates most of the features of the British Standard and also some of the features of the Society of Automotive Engineers Standard. In addition, based on our own experiments, we have been using a twenty-five-pound maximum release load on the buckle at a residual belt load of 250 pounds. We strongly feel the need for a dynamic test and have a subcommittee examining this matter at the moment.

One dynamic test which has been used as an interim measure has been set up at the Snowy Mountains Hydroelectric Authority by D. C. Herbert. It utilizes a vertical drop technique, the belt attachment point being brought to an abrupt stop rather than being decelerated over a distance. This apparatus is used for dynamic tests on webbing alone and also on the complete assembly.

Our latest statistics of seat-belt installation indicated a level of approximately 5 per cent in the city areas. The full extent of seat-belt usage is unknown at the moment. The distribution of types of belts is three-point, diagonal, lap and full harness, in that order.