Seat belt harnesses

Sorry, we are getting our replies all crossed over. I hope we can get in synch now.

Must admit, I've had a few crashes whilst racing and rallying, and was glad I had a 4 point harness. It certainly stops you bouncing around whilst rolling and somersaulting! And I walked away without a scratch every time.

For everyday driving a normal seat belt is safer then a 4 point harness ,so does it exceed minimum standard s ? Some to think about

+ submarining and lack of progressive deceleration hence HANS devices.

The flow charts and table are the Minimum requirement.

Over and above is ok if type approved.

We can't fail a Lap belt that's been replaced with a three point harness can we.

From SCHROTH’s website.

The risk to submarine (sliding underneath the lap belt), a well known phenomenon during frontal impacts, is significantly reduced by the asm® safety system. The energy converter is located in one of the shoulder belts. Severe injuries or death are possible using 4-point harnesses without the SCHROTH asm® safety system or an anti-sub strap.

It would seem David after reading this thread that your probably wrong on that one?
Many years ago I used to drive to Huddersfield University on a collision investigations course. One Physics lecturer told us of a real world road accident that occurred to one of his family members. As as remember it he said...

One of his family members (female) was driving home from work one tea time in rush hour traffic. She was wearing the "Approved" three point inertia type real belts that are in every vehicle. A high speed chase by the police was occurring chasing a stolen car driving in the opposite way directly towards the female driver, on her side of the road. A head on collision occurred. The outcome...

The frontal impact was so severe that the engine/transmission was forced back into the bulkhead, forcing the steering column rearwards towards the driver. She the driver was forced forwards due to the sudden impact and deceleration of her car. The three point inertia seat belt did its job very well, it locked up as designed holding the female driver firmly in the driving seat, but the acceleration of her body forwards against the seatbelt cut her body into three seperate sections, killing her outright.

The point...

Seatbelts are a minimum type safety device but can also work the opposite way round as explained above. It does not really matter whether the belt is two point, three point, four or five point. You can be held rigid and some people will advise its safety etc, but practically in serious high speed collisions, most of the time the occupants won't survive. 

Its not just about seatbelts, but the most important understanding is what is present during the collision that is not seen that kills you and you don't even need a graze or cut on you to be dead in the accident. 

Type Approved is what is key.