A seat belt, sometimes called a safety belt, is a harness designed to hold the occupant of an automobile or other vehicle in place if a collision occurs. Seat belts are intended to reduce injuries by stopping the wearer from hitting hard interior elements of the cabin and from being thrown from the vehicle, and, in automobiles, by preventing rear-seat occupants from crashing into those in the front seats.
Lap belts are seat beats that go over the wearer's hips. These are no longer very common in the developed world, being found mostly in passenger aircraft. Shoulder belts, or "three-point belts", include a lap belt and a second belt going from one anchor point on the lap belt to a point over and behind the occupant's shoulder. Until recently shoulder belts were only available in the front seat of the cars and back seats only had lap belts. Controversy over the potential for lap belts to cause separation of the lumber spine and the sometimes associated paralysis, or "seat-belt syndrome", has led to a revision of safety regulations in nearly all of the developed world requiring that all seats in a vehicle be equipped with three-point belts.
"Five-point harnesses" are seat belts for small children, typically found in child safety seats, and also in racing cars. The lap portion is connected to a belt between the legs and there are 2 shoulder belts for a total of 5 points of attachment to the seat.
Seat belts or safety belts were introduced in aircraft in the 1930s.
The use of seat belts in automobiles is mandatory in many countries. This is a result of the clear safety benefits demonstrated by different studies in a number of countries. For example, in the USA the NHTSA (National Highway Traffic Safety Administration) states about seat belt use:
“They are the most effective means of reducing fatalities and serious injuries when traffic crashes occur and are estimated to save 9,500 lives in America each year. Research has found that lap/shoulder belts, when used properly, reduce the risk of fatal injury to front seat passenger car occupants by 45 percent and the risk of moderate-to-critical injury by 50 percent. For light truck occupants, seat belts reduce the risk of fatal injury by 60 percent and moderate-to-critical injury by 65 percent.”
A 1985 UK report on seat belt safety included the following statistics:
Source: Compulsory Seat Belt Wearing, Report by the Department of Transport, UK. Oct. 1985
Some objections to compulsory seat belt laws are based on the possibility that the use of a seat belt can cause internal, neck and spinal injuries (as it leaves the head free to move inertially while the rest of the body is restrained), and can imprison an occupant in a burning vehicle. Most safety experts believe the benefits of fewer fatalities outweigh the risks seat belts may present. Generally, however, opponents object on the grounds that seat belt laws infringe on their civil liberties.
Most governments enact mandatory seat belt laws because the reduction in serious injuries has a positive effect on health budgets and helps to control insurance costs.
For more details, including statistical research , see:
Compulsory Seat Belt Laws
REDUCTION IN INJURIES ( % )
KIND OF INJURY: DRIVER PASSENGER
To the Brain 33 % 56 %
Skull fracture 18 % 18 %
Facial 45 % 64 %
Eyes 38 % 40 %
Facial fracture 6 % 6 %
To the lung 33 % 58 %
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