Field effectiveness of two restraint systems: the 3-point manual belt versus the 2-point motorized-shoulder/manual lap belt.
The research question addressed in this paper is whether or not occupant death, injury, and ejection outcomes differ between vehicles equipped with 3-point manual belts versus 2-point motorized-shoulder/manual-lap (motorized/manual) belt systems. Census crash data sets for the states of Washington and Texas, and the Fatal Accident Reporting System (FARS) were subset to provide data on front-outboard occupants of Ford Escorts involved in crashes in calendar years 1981-1991. Logistic regression analyses showed that occupants of vehicles equipped with the motorized/manual system experienced 11.7% to 26.4% fewer K- or A-level injuries than occupants of vehicles equipped with the 3-point system. Similar analyses of FARS data showed lower ejection rates for occupants of vehicles with the motorized/manual system in both rollover and nonrollover crashes. The installation of the motorized/manual system provided a substantial safety benefit over the manual 3-point system in the time periods examined.
Streff
F M
FM
University of Michigan, Transportation Research Institute, Ann Arbor 48109-2150, USA.
D000063:Accidents, Traffic / Q000401:mortality / Q000517:prevention & control / Q000706:statistics & numerical data* / Q000639:trends; D004867:Equipment Design; D006801:Humans; D016015:Logistic Models; D011159:Population Surveillance; D012307:Risk Factors; D012622:Seat Belts / Q000145:classification* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D013781:Texas / Q000453:epidemiology; D014481:United States / Q000453:epidemiology; D014861:Washington / Q000453:epidemiology