Seatbelts

[dardal@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx]

Quoting Jim Gathmann <jim_gathmann@xxxxxxxxx>:
> Sometimes seatbelts are a gamble (but then again,
> anytime you get in a car, you gamble to some
> extent...). I've seen crashes were the deaths would
> not have occured if the passengers WERE ejected, and
> vise versa.

Jim, you are right, but this is extremely are (where ejection is better).  If 
the car is say about to fall over a cliff, or such other extreme circumstances, 
you may be better off to get out.  In more normal traffic accident cases (low 
and high speed) your chances are very much better staying inside the car.  
During the late fifties and early sixties, these issues were identified and the 
first thing the manufacturers improved was the door latches, so that the doors 
remain closed in a crash.  Many 50's cars had weak latches where the force from 
the passengers impacting the doors could get the door to open.  There was a 
strong effort to promote seatbelts by showing large number of car crashes where 
the vehicles had only superficial damage (especially compared with damage you 
see when modern cars crash), yet the passengers were ejected and often crushed 
by their own cars.  Much of this research work on crashes was started by a 
fellow called Strapp (or something close to it), so there was a yearly 
publication called "Strapp Conference" or something like that where many of 
these findings were shown.  These are usually available in engineering 
libraries.

Well, being Christmas and all, may be we should talk about something more 
pleasant.  Just, don't forget to buckle up, even with only lap belts!
D^2