Comments on: Inflatable Seat Belts http://www.mentalfloss.com/blogs/archives/40135 Feel Smart Again Mon, 13 Feb 2012 14:09:43 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.0.5 By: yeon http://www.mentalfloss.com/blogs/archives/40135/comment-page-1#comment-243421 yeon Sun, 22 Nov 2009 23:22:14 +0000 http://www.mentalfloss.com/blogs/?p=40135#comment-243421 Hi my name is Yeon! introduce my idea airbags jump safetbelt ------------------------------------------- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qm2rkSKhx_A -------------------------------------------- Watch the youtube This is my new idea,what do you think? contact to me! Hi my name is Yeon! introduce my idea

airbags jump safetbelt
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qm2rkSKhx_A
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Watch the youtube
This is my new idea,what do you think?
contact to me!

]]> By: Wes Sherwood http://www.mentalfloss.com/blogs/archives/40135/comment-page-1#comment-234253 Wes Sherwood Tue, 10 Nov 2009 03:30:34 +0000 http://www.mentalfloss.com/blogs/?p=40135#comment-234253 I am the safety PR person at Ford, and appreciate the opportunity to help answer questions. The rear inflatable belts deploy sideaways and away from the occupant with cold gas technology. Since the belt already is on the occupant, the inflatable belt will deploy slower than traditional air bags that use different gases to deploy the air bags quick enough to make up the distance from the occupant. We recommend customers use the LATCH anchors -- standard in all of Ford, Lincoln and Mercury North American vehicles -- to restrain child seats as recommended by the U.S. government. We also tested the new rear inflatable seat belts in many ways, including with a variety of front- and rear-facing child seats and booster seats, and did not find any cause for concern. We even tested a crash dummy that simulated a child sleeping with their head on the seat belt as the inflatable belt deploys and found no issues. The inflatable belts will not deploy if they're not buckled. However, there is no on/off switch because we have not seen in our testing a situation that would require such a feature. Ford currently offers seat sensing technology in the front passenger seat, not rear seats. Thank you again for the opportunity to join the discussion. I am the safety PR person at Ford, and appreciate the opportunity to help answer questions.

The rear inflatable belts deploy sideaways and away from the occupant with cold gas technology. Since the belt already is on the occupant, the inflatable belt will deploy slower than traditional air bags that use different gases to deploy the air bags quick enough to make up the distance from the occupant.

We recommend customers use the LATCH anchors — standard in all of Ford, Lincoln and Mercury North American vehicles — to restrain child seats as recommended by the U.S. government. We also tested the new rear inflatable seat belts in many ways, including with a variety of front- and rear-facing child seats and booster seats, and did not find any cause for concern. We even tested a crash dummy that simulated a child sleeping with their head on the seat belt as the inflatable belt deploys and found no issues.

The inflatable belts will not deploy if they’re not buckled. However, there is no on/off switch because we have not seen in our testing a situation that would require such a feature.

Ford currently offers seat sensing technology in the front passenger seat, not rear seats.

Thank you again for the opportunity to join the discussion.

]]> By: tiffany http://www.mentalfloss.com/blogs/archives/40135/comment-page-1#comment-234139 tiffany Mon, 09 Nov 2009 23:09:12 +0000 http://www.mentalfloss.com/blogs/?p=40135#comment-234139 i work in the aviation industry and read the other day that one of our vendors is going to start producing seatbelts for aircraft with airbags in them. don't ask me how it works or what good they would really be, just something i read... i work in the aviation industry and read the other day that one of our vendors is going to start producing seatbelts for aircraft with airbags in them. don’t ask me how it works or what good they would really be, just something i read…

]]> By: Tamsyn http://www.mentalfloss.com/blogs/archives/40135/comment-page-1#comment-233944 Tamsyn Mon, 09 Nov 2009 15:37:40 +0000 http://www.mentalfloss.com/blogs/?p=40135#comment-233944 According to Ford, using the cold compressed air to inflate the airbag-seatbelts will protect backseat passengers from chemical burns. It also deploys more slowly than front-seat or side airbags, since it doesn't have so far to go in protecting you. The link in my name goes to their airbag detail page, which states that the "intelligent safety system" will be able to tell whether the backseat is empty, a small child or a small, medium or large adult presence is detected before deploying. I couldn't find anything on rear-facing infant seats, though, which would have been nice. Most trucks on the market now have a switch to turn off passenger-side airbags when using a rear-facing infant seat; perhaps the same switch will be used for the new inflatable seatbelts. I look forward to more information from Ford on the matter. It would be a great step forward for passenger safety. According to Ford, using the cold compressed air to inflate the airbag-seatbelts will protect backseat passengers from chemical burns. It also deploys more slowly than front-seat or side airbags, since it doesn’t have so far to go in protecting you. The link in my name goes to their airbag detail page, which states that the “intelligent safety system” will be able to tell whether the backseat is empty, a small child or a small, medium or large adult presence is detected before deploying. I couldn’t find anything on rear-facing infant seats, though, which would have been nice. Most trucks on the market now have a switch to turn off passenger-side airbags when using a rear-facing infant seat; perhaps the same switch will be used for the new inflatable seatbelts. I look forward to more information from Ford on the matter. It would be a great step forward for passenger safety.

]]> By: JaneM http://www.mentalfloss.com/blogs/archives/40135/comment-page-1#comment-233835 JaneM Mon, 09 Nov 2009 14:03:45 +0000 http://www.mentalfloss.com/blogs/?p=40135#comment-233835 Amy - this is the exact question that came to my mind. Is there a way to 'turn off' the airbag when using it with a child car seat? Anyone know? Amy – this is the exact question that came to my mind. Is there a way to ‘turn off’ the airbag when using it with a child car seat? Anyone know?

]]> By: Amy http://www.mentalfloss.com/blogs/archives/40135/comment-page-1#comment-233831 Amy Mon, 09 Nov 2009 13:55:18 +0000 http://www.mentalfloss.com/blogs/?p=40135#comment-233831 That looks interesting for booster seats and kids in the backseat without any sort of additional safety device, but it also appears that it would be deadly if a child in a carseat (an infant "pumpkin seat" or a 5 point toddler seat) were in a car with this installed. Wouldn't it just launch the safety seat, or break pieces of the seat that hold it into the car off when you need them to hold the most? Perhaps if the car seat were installed with the LATCH system, and the seat belt weren't used at all for installation of the car seat, but then, where are you going to put the seat belt to keep it from flopping around onto your kid, or, God forbid, deploying near your infant in a crash? I've been hit with airbags (on my arms) before, and I had chemical burns and major bruises. While I'm aware that this is preferable to the broken faces people suffered in previous eras, before seatbelts and airbags, an airbag of any kind is NOT something I would want going off that close to my kid's face. I would think it could blow off an ear! I just read Stiff by Mary Roach, and apparently there are very few child cadavers made available for research into such things (and no wonder!). Front and side airbags designed for adults were developed using human cadavers as test subjects. They simply can't test and prove this technology the same way, because grieving parents don't want to give their childrens' bodies for research (organ donation, sure, sometimes, but not research like this - this falls under "donation to science"). This is not a technology that I want in my car. I will not be the first person on the block to line up for seatbelt airbags. I feel sorry for the kids whose parents end up getting these and unwittingly making their (living) children into crash test dummies. That looks interesting for booster seats and kids in the backseat without any sort of additional safety device, but it also appears that it would be deadly if a child in a carseat (an infant “pumpkin seat” or a 5 point toddler seat) were in a car with this installed. Wouldn’t it just launch the safety seat, or break pieces of the seat that hold it into the car off when you need them to hold the most?

Perhaps if the car seat were installed with the LATCH system, and the seat belt weren’t used at all for installation of the car seat, but then, where are you going to put the seat belt to keep it from flopping around onto your kid, or, God forbid, deploying near your infant in a crash?

I’ve been hit with airbags (on my arms) before, and I had chemical burns and major bruises. While I’m aware that this is preferable to the broken faces people suffered in previous eras, before seatbelts and airbags, an airbag of any kind is NOT something I would want going off that close to my kid’s face. I would think it could blow off an ear!

I just read Stiff by Mary Roach, and apparently there are very few child cadavers made available for research into such things (and no wonder!). Front and side airbags designed for adults were developed using human cadavers as test subjects. They simply can’t test and prove this technology the same way, because grieving parents don’t want to give their childrens’ bodies for research (organ donation, sure, sometimes, but not research like this – this falls under “donation to science”).

This is not a technology that I want in my car. I will not be the first person on the block to line up for seatbelt airbags. I feel sorry for the kids whose parents end up getting these and unwittingly making their (living) children into crash test dummies.

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