Seatbelt designed with the ladies in mind
Women
with ample chests often find typical over-the-shoulder three-point safety belts (a.k.a. “seatbelts”) rather
uncomfortable. Think about it – there’s a wide nylon strap stretched across your breasts that gets tighter
and tighter with every tap of the brakes. It’s practically bondage on wheels.A U.K.-based car insurance provider for women named Sheilas’ Wheels hired some engineers with a little empathy to design the ‘S-Clip’, a device that forces a seatbelt to take a detour between the dangerous curves, rather than going over them. The S-Clip has already undergone crash test dummy safety checks to prove it does not reduce a seatbelt’s effectiveness and Sheilas’ Wheels is currently shopping around for a partner to produce it.
Despite the occasional chauvinistic turn, some of us must take umbrage with the title of the linked press release – “Seatbelt Innovation For Real Women” – that implies only those gifted with abundant bosoms are “Real Women”. Ever hear of the 'Bro'? (Or was it the Manzier... we can never keep our Seinfeld straight). Regardless, real women come in all shapes and sizes, Sheila.
[Thanks ZeroZen for the tip]
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
Ted K 4:12PM (3/08/2006)
Nice to try to solve the problem, but it doesn't seem like a very good solution.
In order to avoid going over the breasts, the seatbelt must conform to a shape. That implies some degree of rigidity. Now, you've got an object that's more stiff, stuck between the breasts.
Sounds like it would be more comfortable for peaceful cruising, but more pain with any degree of jostling.
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Ted K 4:15PM (3/08/2006)
And yes, the "Real Women" bit does sound pretty stupid, but it's possible they just didn't think about reading in that way.
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Tiger 4:15PM (3/08/2006)
You kinda can't help but look at the picture provided given the nature of the story.
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yoyo 4:24PM (3/08/2006)
oh no's! the humanity! Why?
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Dan 4:26PM (3/08/2006)
"Think about it theres a wide nylon strap stretched across your breasts that gets tighter and tighter with every tap of the brakes. Its practically bondage on wheels."
Oh YEA!!!
More!!!
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Dustin Tarditi 4:29PM (3/08/2006)
5-point harnesses - Danica never complains about them.
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Ryan 4:35PM (3/08/2006)
"That implies some degree of rigidity. Now, you've got an object that's more stiff, stuck between the breasts"
-Now where could I even begin, so many possibilities, so many, SO MANY!!!! :-)
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bernie 4:39PM (3/08/2006)
I want more pictures showing different solutions (and body types). Yeah, that's it.
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PJ 4:52PM (3/08/2006)
Well, if nothing else, this story's comments are sorting out who's still in grade school...
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kevin 4:53PM (3/08/2006)
small chested women aren't real women? booooo
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Manwich 4:57PM (3/08/2006)
I'm waiting for someone to say "how would you men feel if this was a male physique issue and women were making comments like 'oh yeah more pictures' or 'bondage on wheels'". To answer you question in advance, I would be thrilled.
Man... think of how bad it must be for pregnant women, they would have it bad on the chest and pelvic points...
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James Sonne 5:02PM (3/08/2006)
And of course, as in the picture, these new seatbelts will only be installed on the passenger seats.
Someone was going to say it, I thought I'd take the credit.
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Presto 5:58PM (3/08/2006)
Need more pictures! I just don't get how this thing works.
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Kevin 6:12PM (3/08/2006)
Man, this article got me all turned on
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John B 6:16PM (3/08/2006)
Video please.
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v8 6:36PM (3/08/2006)
If their chest ballons are big enough, they don't really need belts or airbags.
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Tim UF 7:26PM (3/08/2006)
any female autoblog readers have anything substantive to say?
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DaEMoN 7:43PM (3/08/2006)
I've always thought about how uncomfortable seatbelts must be for women. And it's about time someone invented something to fix that!
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carla 8:47PM (3/08/2006)
IM GLAD TO SEE THAT YOU MEN THINK THAT THIS IS REALLY FUNNY. WISH YOU HAD SOMETHING SQUEEZING YOUR BALLS IN TO OBLIVIAN. BUT I GUESS WELL JUST HAVE TO USE YOU MEN IN A BULL RIDING RODEO AND LET YOU SEE HOW IT FEELS, THEN MAYBE YOU MIGHT BE MORE CONSIDERATE TO OTHERS. AND ALSO I GUESS ALL YOU FAT BELLIED MEN DONT NEED SEAT BELTS EITHER, GUESS YOU HAVE YOUR OWN AIRBAG TOO.
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boult 8:58PM (3/08/2006)
Over the shoulder strap is the most effective and safest than using the s-clip or moving the should strap so it would be under the arm/shoulder.
My mother passed away because of internal bleeding since she wore the belt the wrong way because the shoulder strap were uncomfortable to her so she move the strap out of the way so her arm would be over that strap. then she were involved in a car accident and the pressure of the strap against her rib/chest caused internal bleeding that the doctor didn't know about. She was alive for one month after the crash and was to come home the day she died in her sleep.
I did that before but since my mother died I decided not to do the same thing she did. I keep wearing the strap over the shoulder no matter how uncomfortable it is. but car maker should fix it so it don't get tighter tighter every time the brake is tapped.
rest in peace my mother...
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