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How do seat belts work?
I was driving with my 7-year-old daughter the other day, and she asked me about seat belts, and I couldn’t give her a complete answer—how do they work?
Andrea Barrett · Updated on
Reviewed by Shannon Martin, Licensed Insurance Agent.
Great question! Seat belts are designed to hold the seat’s occupant to the vehicle and slow the occupant at the same rate as the car slows. When there’s an impact between two cars, there’s a sudden change in velocity. Occupants of the vehicles will continue to move at pre-impact speeds until they’re confronted with another force that accelerates them to the new speed of a car—that force is often crashing into the steering wheel, dashboard, or windshields.
Seat belts apply collision forces to specific body areas that can withstand these forces without causing serious injury. They also eliminate or reduce the severity of impact with other structures on the inside of the car.
Early seat belts only went over the lap. Although they were effective at preventing passengers and drivers from being thrown from the car, they weren’t effective at restraining the torso and head in the event of a crash.
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