Car Safety Belt although small, plays a crucial role in ensuring the safety of users. The presence of seat belts in cars becomes so natural that people forget when this equipment appeared, and the horrific consequences of automobile accidents before seat belts
We all know that cars are moving objects with high speeds, and the people sitting in cars will move with them. When a collision occurs unexpectedly, the car will stop due to braking or hitting an obstacle, but the person in the car will continue to move forward due to inertia. The purpose of the seat belt is to keep the person in the car fixed to the seat, preventing them from moving forward or being thrown out of the car.
Car safety belts are necessary equipment.
When did car seat belts appear?
In fact, seat belts have been used since the 1930s in the aviation industry and appeared in Ford cars in 1956 to increase safety for users. However, this type of seat belt was not really effective, and fatal accidents did not decrease. The seat belt that we are using today was invented by an engineer working at Volvo in 1959.
Former aerospace engineer Nils Bohlin was hired by Volvo to research and develop 3-point seat belts in 1959. This belt design has a V shape and is capable of holding the chest, shoulder, and pelvic bones, overcoming the limitations of the previous Y-shaped seat belts. Initially, Bohlin’s seat belts were not widely used, even Volvo only installed them on the front seats. It wasn’t until 1967 that Volvo added them to the rear seats as rear seat belts.
Since 1993, seat belts have become popular and applied to all types of cars from trucks, sedans to SUVs.
The inventor of the seat belt is former aerospace engineer Nils Bohlin.
Learn about the structure and design of seat belts
Car seat belts are designed in a V shape and use elasticity material that meets the standard, helping the person sitting in the car not to be thrown out with great force, avoiding hitting the glass or hitting the steering wheel in unexpected cases and ensuring better safety.
Auto safety belts consist of 2 main parts: the belt and the buckle. The belt will automatically tighten when receiving information from the control unit, based on impact sensors, counteracting inertia forces and helping to fasten the body to the seat. When the car stops, people in the car also stop, at this time, the seat belt helps distribute the stopping force to the body parts that can withstand it the best, such as the pelvic bones and chest cage.
The structure of the car seat belt is made of soft and flexible material, which can stretch well. This belt spans from the shoulder down to the pelvic area, so the stopping force is not concentrated in a small area but spread out. Therefore, it helps to minimize the danger of injury to the person sitting in the car. If a collision occurs, the seat belt will hold you tighter to the seat instead of throwing you out.
A frontal impact test with an airbag deployed, a securely fastened seat belt helps the test dummy not hit their head, face, or chest on the steering wheel.
How to fasten the seat belt correctly
In modern cars today, cars are equipped with a warning device for seat belts that are not fastened. When someone is sitting in the car (mainly the driver’s seat and the passenger seat) without the seat belt fastened, the seat belt warning light will flash and the car will emit a warning sound, reminding the person sitting in the car to fasten their seat belt. However, many people feel uncomfortable and annoyed, so they try to counteract the warning by using substitute accessories for seat belts.
Substitute accessories for seat belts pose many potential risks.
It is known that this type of buckle is very cheap, only from 50,000 to 100,000 VND, used to plug into the slot on the car. In this way, the car will not emit a warning sound anymore. This behavior violates road traffic laws and poses many potential risks leading to the loss of safety for the driver and passengers in the car.
To ensure safety, you need to strictly follow the fastening seat belt regulations as follows:
Step 1: When sitting in the car, you adjust your back and hips straight. Pull the belt across your body, buckle the car seat belt, and adjust the belt to fit, not too loose or too tight.
Step 2: After locking the car seat belt, you adjust the belt underneath, pull it low across the lower abdomen and pelvic bone, not leaving the belt in the stomach area. Pregnant women should put the belt down, not fasten it above or across the belly, to avoid affecting the baby while still ensuring safety.
Step 3: Adjust the upper belt over the shoulder and body, diagonally from the shoulder to the chest. Do not loop the belt behind the back or under the arm.
The correct fastening steps for a seat belt.
Notes on fastening seat belts for children
According to data in 2015, there were up to 663 children deaths and 132,000 children injured in accidents while sitting in a car. To minimize casualties for children, parents need to pay special attention to fastening seat belts or prepare quality specialized seats.
First, you should choose the safest seating positions for the child, develop the habit of fastening seat belts even if the child has their own seat or an adult seat, especially on long journeys.
Fastening seat belts properly to minimize the danger when a collision occurs.
For children under 1 year old or weighing less than 9 kg, you should place them facing backwards, facing the seat. However, this only applies to cars that do not have or have turned off side airbags. If you place the baby in the front seat, keep a safe distance from the dashboard (at least 20cm). If your car cannot turn off the side airbags, put the baby in the rear seat and fasten the seat belt carefully.
Instructions for fastening seat belts and correct sitting for children.
For children weighing from 10kg – 18kg, you should place the seat facing forward with the support of a specialized seat.
For children weighing from 18kg – 30kg (from 4 – 7 years old), you should use a high seat (booster seat) and use the seat belt correctly, covering the child’s chest and abdomen. Let the child sit in the rear seat.
For children over 135cm tall, they can sit and fasten their seat belts like adults.
Children sitting in cars without seat belts fastened or using seat belts of incorrect size and incorrect method will be seriously injured if an accident occurs. In addition, you should also check the seat belt when fastening it for the child, if the belt is too wide, shorten it to fit the child better.
You should not teach children how to remove seat belts to avoid the situation where children remove the seat belts while the car is moving, which poses many hidden dangers.
Above are some shares about seat belts and how to use them correctly for readers to refer to. I hope the previous article has helped you drive safely and contribute to minimizing regrettable accidents.
Tinh Tam
