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THE PERFORMANCE OF SEAT BELTS IN SEVERE CRASHES
Author(s) -
RYAN G. ANTHONY
Publication year - 1975
Publication title -
medical journal of australia
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.904
H-Index - 131
eISSN - 1326-5377
pISSN - 0025-729X
DOI - 10.5694/j.1326-5377.1975.tb106428.x
Subject(s) - seat belt , crash , buckle , medicine , injury prevention , poison control , occupational safety and health , forensic engineering , front (military) , physical medicine and rehabilitation , medical emergency , engineering , computer science , structural engineering , pathology , programming language , mechanical engineering
This paper reports an intensive follow‐up study of persons injured while wearing seat belts in crashes. Examinations of both vehicles and persons were carried out after the crash, and 30 out of 54 (55.5%) persons were judged to have been wearing seat belts at impact. Eight received injuries from the seat belt, only four of these injuries being severe, and none was fatal. A roadside survey showed that half of the occupants wearing seat belts had them adjusted incorrectly. This compared with nearly 90% of the crash cases having incorrectly adjusted belts. There is therefore an association between incorrectly worn seat belts and injury. The seat belt buckle seems to be a possible cause of injury in this situation, especially when worn in front of the hip, and with a loose belt Comparison of police reports of belt wearing for the study cases suggests an underestimate of about 10% in the wearing rate if police data are used.