Why You Shouldn't Buy a Car with an Automatic Seat Belt

The seat belt is a key element for safe car travel. In the 90s, automatic seat belts became popular, but they provided only half the safety and even killed some people.

If you look at the feature list of just about any new car, you're bound to notice a plethora of automatic safety features. Most cars today have automatic parking brakes, automatic transmissions, and even automatic emergency braking systems. But do you know that Cars in the 90s had automatic seat belts.? Well, not all of them are that good, because it was a terrible idea.

Automatic seat belt - part of your safety

If you are unfamiliar with the operation of an automatic seat belt, this worked when you sat in the front seat of the car, whether on the driver or passenger side, the crossover's power chest belt moved along the A-pillar and then was positioned next to the B-pillar. The purpose of this mechanism was to automatically pass the belt through the passenger's chest.

However, with the cross chest strap fastened, the process was only half completed. the passenger will still be responsible for stopping and fastening a separate lap belt.. Without a lap belt, the transverse chest belt can severely injure a person's neck in the event of an accident. So, technically, automatic seat belts only partially protected drivers if they didn't complete the process.

Problems with the automatic seat belt

Now that we see how automation has turned a simple one-second push-and-drag process into a clumsy two-step process, we understand why it hasn't been available for too long. Since the crossed lap belt automatically adjusted to the correct position, many drivers and passengers neglected the need for a lap belt.. In fact, a 1987 study by the University of North Carolina found that only 28.6% of passengers wore a lap belt.

Unfortunately, this neglect led to the deaths of many drivers and passengers during the era of the popularity of automatic seat belts. According to a Tampa Bay Times report, a 25-year-old woman was decapitated when the 1988 Ford Escort she was driving collided with another vehicle. It turns out that at that time she only wore a belt on her chest. Her husband, who was fully seated, emerged from the crash with serious injuries.

What's even more unfortunate is that many car manufacturers have adopted its use. Automatic seat belts can be found on many early 90s GM vehicles, as well as many Japanese vehicles from brands such as Honda, Acura and Nissan.

Luckily, the airbags deployed.

After a short run on the conveyors of many automakersautomatic seat belts were eventually replaced by airbags, which became standard on all cars.. However, we can now view the automotive airbag as a valuable lesson in automotive history. It is a pity that some people were injured or died along the way.

The good news is that automotive and safety technologies are advancing at a rapid pace. So much so that our cars even slow down for us when we're not paying attention and warn us when we're tired. In any case, we can thank our autonomous driving features whenever they appear. While they can be annoying at times, at least they aren't automatic seat belts.

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