Comparative study of 1624 belted and 3242 non-belted occupants:​ results on the effectiveness of seat belts

Thomas, C.; Faverjon, G.; Henry, C.; Tarrière, C.; Got, C.; Patel, A.

Affiliations

¹Laboratoire de Physiologie et de Biomécanique de l'Association Peugeot S.A.-Renault, 18, rue des Fauvelles, 92250 La Garenne-Colombes, France

²Institut de Recherches Orthopédiques, Hôpital Raymond Poincaré, 92380 Garches

Abstract

Since 1970, a team of doctors and technicians, in collaboration with the police, has studied 3138 vehicles involved in accidents. The medical and technical data gathered has enabled exact determination of the circumstances and the configurations of collisions and identification of the causes of minor, serious and fatal injuries suffered by each of the occupants transported to the hospital. The material indexes dependent on the belt itself allowed pinpointing the cases in which the belt was worn effectively, thereby eliminating all risk of error in this fundamental point.

If the effectiveness of the 3-point belt is easy to measure in the experimental conditions to which the dummies are subjected, the prediction of the number of lives that the belt can spare on the road requires delicate handling. Real accidents are extremely varied and not all of them can be reproduced by the principal tests. The accident scenes must be observed not only to verify the results of these tests, but to prescribe new ones as well. The protection afforded by the safety belt is compared for drivers and front seat passengers.

In frontal impact, the effectiveness of the belt is evaluated:

in terms of the force of the impacts characterized by the speed variation of the occupant (Δ V) on the one hand, and by the average deceleration of the vehicle ( average), on the other hand;
by body regions.

Finally, the role of the belt is analyzed in lateral impact and in rollover.

Cited Works (6)

Year	Entry
1977	Hartemann F, Thomas C, Henry C, Foret-Bruno J-Y, Faverjon G, Tarriere C, Got C, Patel A. Belted or not belted: the only difference between two matched samples of 200 car occupants. In: Proceedings of the 21st Stapp Car Crash Conference. October 19-21, 1977; New Orleans, LA. Warrendale, PA: Society of Automotive Engineers:97-150. SAE 770917.
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1979	Thomas C, Foret-Bruno JY, Hartemann F, Tarriere C, Got C, Patel A. Influence of age and restraint force value on the seriousness of thoracic injuries sustained by belted occupants in real accidents. In: Proceedings of the 1979 International IRCOBI Conference on the Biomechanics of Impact. September 5-7, 1979; Goeteborg, Sweden.49-62.
1978	Foret-Bruno JY, Hartemann F, Thomas C, Fayon A, Tarrière C, Got C, Patel A. Correlation between thoracic lesions and force values measured at the shoulder of 92 belted occupants involved in real accidents. In: Proceedings of the 22nd Stapp Car Crash Conference. October 24-26, 1978; Ann Arobor, MI. Warrendale, PA: Society of Automotive Engineers:271-292. SAE 780892.
1975	Tarriere C, Fayon A, Hartemann F, Ventre P. The contribution of physical analysis of accidents towards interpretation of severe traffic trauma. In: Proceedings of the 19th Stapp Car Crash Conference. November 17-19, 1975; San Diego, CA. Warrendale, PA: Society of Automotive Engineers:965-993. SAE 751176.
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Cited By (4)

Year	Entry
2005	Mackay M. The contribution of accident investigation research to biomechanics. In: Gilchrist MD, ed. IUTAM Symposium on Impact Biomechanics: From Fundamental Insights to Applications. Dordrecht, The Netherlands: Springer; 2005:3-16. Solid Mechanics and Its Applications; vol 124.
1982	Bez U, Schmid W. Compatibility and passive safety terminology and problematics. In: Proceedings of the 9th International Technical Conference on Experimental Safety Vehicles (ESV). November 1-4, 1982; Kyoto, Japan.139-145.
1981	Gloyns PF, Rattenbury SJ, Rivlin AZ, Hayes HRM, Hanstead JK, Proctor S. Steering wheel induced head and facial injuries amongst drivers restrained by seat belts. In: Proceedings of the 1981 International IRCOBI Conference on the Biomechanics of Impact. September 8-10, 1981; Salon de Provence, France.30-48.
1987	Arajärvi E, Santavirta S, Tolonen J. Abdominal injuries sustained in severe traffic accidents by seatbelt wearers. J Trauma. April 1987;27(4):393-397.