Re: [FWDLK] Safety Question - Thoughts on Seat Belts

[Ray Jones <hurst300@xxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Some add'l thoughts.
On Feb 17, 2005, at 11:55 AM, eastern sierra Adj Services wrote:

> With all due respect to "Julio's floor plate", and to Marty's
> engineering research, "we" are talking about "massively
> (nowadays)"full-framed cars, with pretty-thick floor metal.
  Fender Washers were mentioned. these are usually thin. Use 1/4" thick
stainless steel washers with SS bolts.
>

> BTW, the CHP has told me that their studies on frontal impacts
> indicate that, due to internal-organ inertia, (brain/lungs/guts) they
> can not 'state' that 'all' people can survive crashes above 35
> mph---survivability depends upon age/condition of the victim, and,
> most-importantly, the attenuation (slowing-down) of the impact of
> one's internal organs, during the collision episode.
 There are so many different conditions acting on any impact that any
of the above is NOT a reason to not use belts. A loose 150# mass behind
the Steering wheel has to go somewhere, and be absorbed by something.
Wide racing belts are an option, And can be bought with clips so you
can remove them from the eyebolts holding the "Show" belts.
> btw(ii) in a LOT of frontal crashes, the victims submarine" UNDER the
> seat belt system, and are crushed under the steering wheel/dashboard
> areas---so, be SURE to install the 5th-point  safety harness, between
> your legs.
  This is true of very loose belt or a RECLINED seat. Taking a snooze
in the Pass seat at 70+ mph is nice, but when the car stops instantly
you tend to continue the trip and stop at the intersection of firewall
and floor.
> The main benefit of lap belts is to keep the occupants INSIDE the car
> (for better, usually, or worse)--and, the driver BEHIND the steering
> wheel.
  I had a friend not long ago who got out of his truck on the second of
4-5 rollovers and had the truck roll over him.  He thought seat-belts
were dumb. A seat belt would have saved him with little injury as the
truck wasn't crushed.
> I believe that the late 50's cars have laminated safety glass, so that
> when your pasenger is cantilevered into the W/S, by their lap belt,
> their face will be damaged, but their carotid/jugular arteries/veins
> may be intact.
  Correct, it's all safety glass. The biggest problem here is that your
face may slam down on the dash the dash, which is why they're padded.
> btw (iii) a lot of airplane crash victims are found to be in 2 pieces,
> from the action of the "lap-belt" system.
  Com'on Neil, those  are 500 mph crashes. Actually, there are usually
NO reconisable parts

Having built, owned, and driven race cars since my teens, I've always
had seat-belts, and won't be without them. Working at the Dealership, I
can't count the times I brought a car in from the lot to my lift and
then had to unlatch the belt to get out!

regards, Ray

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