First to say, we are all OK, with only bruises.
This Sunday, on the winding road up to our mountain vacation resort for Rosh-Hashanah, an hour before the holiday began, at one of the bends, a young driver coming headlong at us in our lane lost control and smashed into our car demolishing it. I had seen it coming, warned my family, swiveled the car out of his way so that it changed into a side collision... and Bang! The airbags worked but the seat-belts worked first.
Next thing we were all in the hospital hardly walking and hardly talking. We cannot lie down or sit down without help, and cannot get up. (By now, five days later its much better). The heavy bruises are all from seat-belts: On the shoulders, neck, across the left breast and chest, and on the two sides of the waist.
So here's the idea:
New active seat-belt: The actual seat-belt is kept away from the body by a series of thin plastic elastic "legs" which serve also as crash detectors. In case of a crash, a wide "bandage" is opened which covers the face (with see-through, and breathable mesh material) the forehead, and most of the body, spreading the stopping energy to a much broader and hence much less bruising experience.
Just a note: While at the hospital we saw much worse cases, one the family of a man who got a heart attack while their car was being stoned. Ironically, the mostly Arab staff - doctors, nurses, assistants and clerks where all extremely helpful and empathic, to this family as well.-- pashute, Sep 17 2015 Inflating Seat Belts http://www.consumer...-children/index.htmWider energy distribution. [RayfordSteele, Sep 17 2015] (???) The crash http://imgur.com/share/i/yMYCSM6My car is on the left spun almost completely around [pashute, Sep 18 2015] the aftermath (photobucket, I hope you don't need a password for it) http://s933.photobu...psbckbjgxj.jpg.htmlMy car is on the left spun almost completely around. Interestingly I now read that the Red Magen David (Red Star of David) ambulances are now being forced to leave the Red Cross and Red Crescent, because using the star of David is against the Geneva convention... [pashute, Sep 20 2015] Inflatable Seatbelt http://www.autocar....inflatable-seatbeltFord have developed a seat belt that might solve this problem [oneoffdave, Sep 21 2015] That sounds scary - glad you're OK-- hippo, Sep 17 2015 Thanks. It was-- pashute, Sep 17 2015 //The actual seat-belt is kept away from the body by a series of thin plastic elastic "legs" which serve also as crash detectors.//
There's a problem there. Seatbelt tensioners and airbags all work because sensors in the front of the car (and possibly elsewhere) detect the impact while the car body is crumpling, and before the main force has reached the occupants. Sensors on the seatbelt would react too late.
Very glad, though, to hear that you're all OK, bruising aside.-- MaxwellBuchanan, Sep 17 2015 Could there not be airbag/seat belts? - meaning that the seat belts themselves would contain airbags that blow out to convert them into extreme padded versions on severe impacts?-- xenzag, Sep 17 2015 xenzag, baked. Ford has seatbelts which inflate upon crash detection.-- RayfordSteele, Sep 17 2015 Wasted effort.
Extremely effective 5-point FIA harnesses can be purchased for under USD $200. The technology is mature, well-proven, and needs no electronics, sensors, airbags or cushions.
It is entirely possible to descend a ten metre high 45-degree bank at 80kph and stop abruptly due to an inconvenient tree, then walk away with nothing more than a small cut on the left knee, bruised fingers, and a sore shoulder. Mind you, the driver broke his collarbone.
They take just a little longer to put on and take off than the pathetic belts that cars get as standard, and you get quicker with practice. You won't hit your head, or get ejected from the vehicle if it rolls.
The original equipment airbags have been removed from all our vehicles.-- 8th of 7, Sep 17 2015 //Seat-belt energy spread// That would be a sort of nylon-flavoured Nutella, then?-- MaxwellBuchanan, Sep 17 2015 Polypropylene, actually ...-- 8th of 7, Sep 17 2015 Sp.: polyester.
Oh, and welcome back, [8th]. I'm afraid I lost your chaise longue in a bet with [bigs], but I knew you wouldn't mind.-- MaxwellBuchanan, Sep 17 2015 drat! we were in a Ford!! Ford Focus...
Here's the aftermath... (link)-- pashute, Sep 18 2015 wow, that would have been lethal before the early 90s.-- bs0u0155, Sep 18 2015 Why anyone would put a tree in the middle of a high-banked curve is beyond me.-- RayfordSteele, Sep 18 2015 //They take just a little longer to put on and take off than the pathetic belts that cars get as standard//. You also need a helmet and neck guard to keep your brain from continuing forward while your body stops, which is more trouble than most people are willing to go to. 3 point belts are standard because they're the safest thing for passenger cars.-- DIYMatt, Sep 19 2015 how/where can i post the image so there's no need for a password?-- pashute, Sep 20 2015 Try Photobucket.-- MaxwellBuchanan, Sep 20 2015 Yep, that worked.
That's going to need some serious paintwork to sort out.
Also, why don't the Red Magen David ambulances just use a regular red cross?-- MaxwellBuchanan, Sep 20 2015 Just want to say, having been the victim of a recent hit and run myself, I feel your pain, and am so glad you are okay. We been together a long time, my friend.-- blissmiss, Sep 21 2015 // You also need a helmet and neck guard to keep your brain from continuing forward while your body stops, //
Yep, got those too.
// which is more trouble than most people are willing to go to //
More fool them.
//. 3 point belts are standard because they're the safest thing for passenger cars. //
No, they're not. They're cheap, and require little or no mental effort to use (originally developed for the U.S. market). Like those horrible "round the door" electrically driven belts that can't be properly tightened ...
The main problem with the 5-point harnesses serms to be that some women find them uncomfortable. This is clearly due to a major design flaw. In fact, women are the final and clinching proof of the incorrectness of the "intelligent design" hypothesis.-- 8th of 7, Sep 22 2015 //The original equipment airbags have been removed from all our vehicles.// Twisted, ingenious experiments, no doubt.-- wjt, Sep 25 2015 //No, they're not. They're cheap, and require little or no mental effort to use (originally developed for the U.S. market).// That's part of being safe. A 5 point harness offers no safety at all if nobody wears it, or wears it improperly.
A 5 point harness is only going to have an advantage over a 3 point belt if the wearer has a helmet and neck protector.
3 point belts already have pretensioners and force limiters to minimize injury. Quite a lot of thought has gone into it.-- DIYMatt, Sep 27 2015 // if nobody wears it, or wears it improperly. //
Another huge benefit; removes low-grade DNA from the gene pool.
// if the wearer has a helmet and neck protector. //
The wearer can't slide under a 5-point harness, unlike a 3 point. And for the driver, the head comes nowhere near the steering wheel during a front impact. Agreed, in a side impact a helmet provides vital protection against contact with the B-pillar, or even worse the navigator's head, which is typically of an even more dense and unyielding character than stamped vanadium steel section.-- 8th of 7, Sep 27 2015 So what's it like being a navigator, [8th]?-- MaxwellBuchanan, Sep 28 2015 Humiliating.
Co-drivers at least get a bit of the credit. Navigators have about the same status as mud-boards, altho most drivers won't leave a mudboard on the verge in a rainstorm and just drive away.-- 8th of 7, Sep 28 2015 You really should buy your driver a satnav, you know.-- MaxwellBuchanan, Sep 28 2015 Oh, we did. One of the first-generation ones, that just give latitude and longtitude on a dot-matrix LCD display.
Now, he can find out his location at any time with nothing more than a basic endoscope. And quite a lot of colonic discomfort. Which is entirely satisfactory.-- 8th of 7, Sep 28 2015 There is never any point in knowing where you are. I, for instance, always know exactly where I am, because it's where I am.
What counts is knowing where everything else is.-- MaxwellBuchanan, Sep 28 2015 Fondly remembering Maxwell Buchanan.-- pashute, Jun 11 2021 . Wouldn't the seat belt just need the correct stetch under impact forces? The belt absorbs energy to reduce bruising while still giving holding needed.-- wjt, Jun 13 2021 random, halfbakery