Restraint Systems

Restraint Systems - belts, airbags, and head restraints - work with a vehicle's structure to protect people in serious crashes. Lap/shoulder belts hold you in place, reducing the chance you'll slam into something or get ejected from the vehicle. In frontal crashes (by far the most frequent kind), belts permit you to decelerate with the safety cage as the crush zone buckles and bends. If you aren't belted, you'll continue moving forward until something suddenly stops you - usually the car interior.

Some belts are easier and more comfortable to use than others, so test the belts in a before buying it. Choose one with belts that fit.

Shoulder belts are on inertia reels that allow upper body movement during normal driving but lock during hard braking or in a crash. Belt webbing is stored on the reel, and during a frontal crash, any slack in the webbing can allow some forward movement of your upper body. Then you could strike the steering wheel, dashboard, or windshield - a problem addressed in some cars with belt crash tensioners that activate early in a collision to reel in belt slack and prevent some of the forward movement.

But even lap/shoulder belts with crash tensioners cannot always prevent people's heads and chests from hitting steering wheels, dashboards, or windshields in serious frontal crashes. The airbags in all new cars enhance protection by providing additional restraint to the head and upper body. An airbag doubles the protection against head injury offered by a lap/shoulder belt alone.