Autoblog http://www.autoblog.com Autoblog http://www.blogsmithmedia.com/www.autoblog.com/media/feedlogo.gif Autoblog http://www.autoblog.com en-us Copyright 2012 Weblogs, Inc. The contents of this feed are available for non-commercial use only. Blogsmith http://www.blogsmith.com/<![CDATA[Kansas man goes to court over homemade seatbelt]]>http://www.autoblog.com/2011/01/14/kansas-man-goes-to-court-over-homemade-seatbelt/http://www.autoblog.com/2011/01/14/kansas-man-goes-to-court-over-homemade-seatbelt/http://www.autoblog.com/2011/01/14/kansas-man-goes-to-court-over-homemade-seatbelt/#commentsFiled under: , , ,

Click It or Ticket logoFrom the 'We Almost Missed It'' file comes word Kansas man has set about testing his state's new seatbelt law. Kansas has just joined the handful of other states that have moved not wearing a seatbelt while driving up to a primary offense, meaning that law enforcement officers can pull over and cite offenders simply for failing to buckle up. According to KWCH CBS 12, Paul Weigand says that he wants to challenge the law because he believes wearing his seatbelt should be up to him. Since the law says that an individual simply has to wear a seatbelt, Weigand has apparently taken to donning a seatbelt that he made himself around his waist at all times. The law apparently makes no mention of the seatbelt needing to be factory equipment nor that the belt needs to actually be fastened to the vehicle.

Not surprisingly, Weigand was cited under the new law and decided to fight the citation. A district judge decided earlier this month that the seatbelt crusader can take his case to court. According to the report, Weigand knows that he's poking fun at the law, but believes that seatbelt use should be up to individuals. He claims to have a phobia of being trapped in a crashed vehicle. Click on the KWCH link below to watch a video and see the homemade safety belt for yourself.

[Source: KWCH CBS 12 via USA Today]

Kansas man goes to court over homemade seatbelt originally appeared on Autoblog on Fri, 14 Jan 2011 09:27:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>buckle upclick it or ticketkansasprimary seat belt lawsafety beltseat beltseat belt lawseat beltsseatbeltFri, 14 Jan 2011 09:27:00 EST http://www.autoblog.com/feed/19799645/article-comments.xml http://www.autoblog.com/feed/2011/01/14/kansas-man-goes-to-court-over-homemade-seatbelt/19799645/article-detail.xml 19799645 http://www.blogcdn.com/www.autoblog.com/media/2011/01/click-it-250_thumbnail.jpg http://www.blogcdn.com/www.autoblog.com/media/2011/01/click-it-250.jpg <![CDATA[Party Time: Volvo celebrates 50 years of the three-point belt]]>http://www.autoblog.com/2009/08/14/party-time-volvo-celebrates-50-years-of-the-three-point-belt/http://www.autoblog.com/2009/08/14/party-time-volvo-celebrates-50-years-of-the-three-point-belt/http://www.autoblog.com/2009/08/14/party-time-volvo-celebrates-50-years-of-the-three-point-belt/#commentsFiled under: , ,


Volvo's three-point seat belt - Click above to watch the video after the break

Back in 1958, most Americans wouldn't have been caught dead wearing a seat belt. That was mostly because safety belts were optional equipment in every car sold in the U.S. and drivers were suspicious of the things.

Just one year later, though, Nils Bohlin of Sweden invented and patented a three-point safety belt system that Volvo immediately made standard on its Amazon model. Variations on that system are still being used today in virtually every modern car.

Volvo, as you might expect, is pretty proud of itself, bragging that Mr. Bohlin is personally responsible for saving a million lives and that the three-point safety belt is Volvo's most important innovation and "almost certainly the most important invention in the whole history of traffic safety." Hmm. Maybe, but what about the, um, stop sign? Or double yellow line? Just saying. Then again, Volvo says the German patent office called the three-point belt one of the eight patents that had the greatest importance to mankind between 1885 and 1985. Surely that's now been trumped by 24-7 cable news networks.

Regardless, if you want to celebrate 50 years of safer driving with Volvo, chill the beer, fire up the grill and watch the video after the break. There's some great historical footage including one of a crash test with a live person as well as, more importantly, gratuitous footage of a girl in short shorts. Hit the jump to watch the video and read the full press release from Volvo.

[Source: Volvo]

Continue reading Party Time: Volvo celebrates 50 years of the three-point belt

Party Time: Volvo celebrates 50 years of the three-point belt originally appeared on Autoblog on Fri, 14 Aug 2009 08:59:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>3-point belt3-point safety belt3-pointBelt3-pointSafetyBeltsafetysafety beltSafetyBeltseat beltseatbeltvideovolvoFri, 14 Aug 2009 08:59:00 EST http://www.autoblog.com/feed/19127756/article-comments.xml http://www.autoblog.com/feed/2009/08/14/party-time-volvo-celebrates-50-years-of-the-three-point-belt/19127756/article-detail.xml 19127756 http://www.blogcdn.com/www.autoblog.com/media/2009/08/volvo-seatbelt_thumbnail.jpg http://www.blogcdn.com/www.autoblog.com/media/2009/08/volvo-seatbelt.jpg <![CDATA[End of unsafe era: (Some) School buses to get seat belts]]>http://www.autoblog.com/2008/10/15/end-of-unsafe-era-some-school-buses-to-get-seat-belts/http://www.autoblog.com/2008/10/15/end-of-unsafe-era-some-school-buses-to-get-seat-belts/http://www.autoblog.com/2008/10/15/end-of-unsafe-era-some-school-buses-to-get-seat-belts/#commentsFiled under: ,



My wife and I thoroughly trained our oldest daughter on seat belt safety, and it got to the point where she would scream at the top of her lungs if one of us didn't buckle our belts. When she first stepped foot on a school bus, she was terrified to learn that there were no seat belts and didn't understand how school buses were the exception to the seat belt rule. After many years of extensive study, however, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration is changing that, at least for buses weighing under 10,000 lbs. The NHTSA's findings are the same as a 2002 study that smaller buses should receive belts and seat backs should be raised to 24 inches, but nothing was done about the findings back then. A series of bus crashes since has helped build the case to finally require the seat belts on certain buses and taller seat backs for them all.

Part of the reason for inaction was that adding seat belts would decrease seating capacity by 17% while also adding $40-$50 per seat to bus costs. With 25 million children riding 500,000 buses, that adds up to $100 million in annual costs that would, according to reports, save roughly one life per year. Statistics show that about 5 children die each year in school bus accidents, which represents .1 deaths per 100 million miles traveled. Kids that travel by bike to school die at a far greater rate of 12.2 per 100 million miles traveled, and kids who walk to school die at a rate of 8.7 per 100 million. The NHTSA's ruling goes into effect November 2011, which is five months before my oldest daughter rides the bus for the last time and gets into her own car.

[Source: Detroit News, photo by gareth_lofthouse | CC 2.0]

End of unsafe era: (Some) School buses to get seat belts originally appeared on Autoblog on Wed, 15 Oct 2008 16:29:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>nhtsasafety beltSafetyBeltschool busSchoolBusseat beltSeatBeltWed, 15 Oct 2008 16:29:00 EST http://www.autoblog.com/feed/1342941/article-comments.xml http://www.autoblog.com/feed/2008/10/15/end-of-unsafe-era-some-school-buses-to-get-seat-belts/1342941/article-detail.xml 1342941 http://www.blogcdn.com/www.autoblog.com/media/2008/10/2410289429_532c632947_optb_thumbnail.jpg http://www.blogcdn.com/www.autoblog.com/media/2008/10/2410289429_532c632947_optb.jpg <![CDATA[New seat belts resemble racing harnesses]]>http://www.autoblog.com/2006/08/31/new-seat-belts-resemble-racing-harnesses/http://www.autoblog.com/2006/08/31/new-seat-belts-resemble-racing-harnesses/http://www.autoblog.com/2006/08/31/new-seat-belts-resemble-racing-harnesses/#commentsFiled under: ,

Regardless of the cocoon of air bags surrounding the occupants of today's vehicles, Dr. Priya Prasad, Ford Motor's Technical Fellow for Safety maintains that "the single most important piece of safety technology in a car or truck today remains the safety belt," and Ford engineers are actively researching new restraint technologies, like the four-point belt system shown above.

Ford research showed that consumers who tested the four-point belts perceived them to be safer, more comfortable and (depending on design) easier to use than conventional three point belts. Ford maintains that thousands of testers of "all demographics and sizes" gave the racecar-like harness the thumbs up, and we're sure that the photo intentionally shows a female driver, but we're skeptical that women will really find the new system "more comfortable."

Still, we're all for efforts to adopt simple, comparatively inexpensive, and effective technologies to enhance safety, and there's no question that four-point belts are safer than today's three-point system. Just ask any racecar driver.

[Source: Ford]

New seat belts resemble racing harnesses originally appeared on Autoblog on Thu, 31 Aug 2006 16:56:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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