I can recall my father wanting to cross Chevrolet off the list of potential cars to buy after seeing that the “hood” over the gauges and controls terminated with…more or less…a point, directly in front of the passenger. Then, when I explained that Chevy used an “X” frame with no siderails, he decided that one of those cars would be unsafe–for more than one reason.
This is the 1962 Chevy dashboard to which my father objected. As you can see, without padding, that pointy edge directly in front of the unbelted passenger would be…deadly
I flew DC8s and B727s for Flying Tiger Line in the 70’s and 80’s. We had five point harness/belts in our fleet, and no one complained.
You had one central buckle, with left and right straps at the wast and a third strap between the legs. Then there were two shoulder harnesses. A single tab would release he harnesses (used right after takeoff), while twisting a knob on the buckle released the actual seat belt. These were made by Pacific Scientific Co.
As far as anchoring, the seat backs for the captain and F/O had a slot for each of the harnesses, while the flight engineer’s seat had one slot for both harnesses.
My dad and I got T-bonned years ago by some idiot in a huge jacked up pickup truck that didn’t know that when you’re turning left you don’t have the right of way…We were in an early 2000s Volvo sedan (I don’t remember the exact year or model, it happened around 04-05 I think). He hit my dad’s side (driver) right in the middle of the car and pushed us off course into the big metal pole the traffic light was mounted too. Side air bags deployed for him and front on the pole impact, we both walked away with minor scratches only. I think the side impact air bags greatly improve your odds in those types of accidents as they help stabilize your head from bouncing around sideways.
The veterans of this forum may recall my T-bone tale from–IIRC–2008.
I was a passenger in my friend’s late-model Accord, and he had just filled his tank at a Shell station on US Route 1. He pulled away from the pump, and was approaching the exit when we were suddenly T-boned (on the driver’s side of the car) while we were stillon the gas station’s property!
We wound up getting pushed onto the highway when his Accord spun around as a result of the high speed impact, and we were very lucky that we didn’t wind up being hit by other vehicles after being pushed into the right lane of very busy Route 1. The driver’s side airbag deployed and my friend sustained no significant injuries. I was merely shaken-up.
The cause of the accident was a crazy woman, driving a Lexus RX, who stated to the police, “The harder I pushed the brake, the faster it went”.
Ummm…yeah…when you can’t distinguish between the accelerator pedal and the brake pedal, that’s what happens…
She had already rear-ended another car on Rt. 1, and apparently she thought she would be safer if she steered her out-of-control SUV off the road…INTO a friggin’ gas station. (How’s that for some very strange reasoning?)
My friend’s Accord was totaled, but its protective construction and its side airbag prevented us from being badly injured.
The front and side airbags on a family members 2002 Accord (accident was in 2004) were given credit for the minimal injuries to both occupants.
From what we were told at the time the driver drifted onto the side of the road just far enough to strike some sort of large rock and a front end impact followed by a couple roll over’s.
Just A couple of years ago there was a winter storm caused chain reaction pile up on the interstate a few miles from us. It involved 40 cars and trucks. Two days later, accompanied with pictures, an editorial by one of the staff writers made these observations.
The first responders expected the worse when they began to cut people out from the carnage.
There were some people taken to the hospital with serious injuries. Many of the cars had air bags that had deployed. There were no deaths . The writer finished the article with, > I will never again complain about the mandated safety devices in cars again, nor will I complain about their cost.<
There was noting specifically that referred to the airbags, but I am sure they had a lot to do with it.
Insurance companies sure feel they are effective.
