The warning light . in the instr ument cluster
lights up when the ignition is switched on as a
reminder to fasten the safety belts. In addi -
tion, you will hear a warning tone for a certain
period of time.
Fasten your safety belt and make sure that
your passengers also properly put on their
safety belts.
A WARNING
- Safety belts are the sing le most effective
means availab le to reduce the risk of se-
rious injury and death in automob ile acci-
dents. For your protect ion and that of
yo ur passengers, always correctly wear
safety belts when the vehicle is moving .
- Failure to pay attention to the warning
ligh t that come on, could lead to person-
al injury.
Why safety belts?
Frontal collisions and the law of physics
Frontal crashes create very strong forces for
people riding in vehicles.
Fig. 94 Unbelted occupants in a vehicle heading for a
wall
Fig. 95 The vehicle crashes into t he wall.
Safety belts 99
The physical principles are simple . Both the
vehicle and the passengers possess energy
which var ies with vehicle speed and body
weight. Engineers call this energy "kinetic en-
ergy."
The higher the speed of the vehicle and the
greater the vehicle's we ight, the more energy
that has to be "absorbed" in the crash.
Vehicle speed is the most significant factor . If
the speed doubles from 15 to 30 mph (25 to
50 km/h), the energy increases 4 times!
Because the occupants in this vehicle are no t
using safety belts ¢
fig. 94, they will keep
moving at the same speed the vehicle was
moving just before the crash, until someth ing
stops them - here, the wall ¢
fig . 95.
The same principles apply to people sitting in
a vehicle that is involved in a frontal coll ision .
Even at city speeds of 20 to 30 mph (30 to 50
km/h), the forces acting on the body can
reach one ton (2,000 lbs, or 1,000 kg) or
more . At higher speeds, these forces are even
greater.
Peop le who do not use safety belts are also
not attached to their vehicle . In a frontal colli-
s ion they will also keep moving forward at the
speed their veh icle was travell ing just before
the crash . Of course, the laws of physics don't
just apply to frontal collisions, t hey determine
what happens in all kinds of accidents an d col-
lisions .
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