2023 Author: Eric Donovan | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-05-21 15:44
Motorists have been obliged to wear seat belts for 40 years. 98 percent of drivers now stick to it. A right decision: because the belt saves lives.
For 40 years, drivers have been obliged to wear seat belts while driving. What was criticized as superfluous when the obligation was introduced in 1976 is now recognized as life-saving: 98 percent of all motorists buckle up, according to a survey by the Federal Highway Research Institute. This has not always been the case - five facts about the belt and the obligation to wear it.
Lifesaver number one:At the beginning of the 1970s, around 21,000 people were killed each year; in the past year the number was only a sixth of that due to increased traffic. The undisputed most important lifesaver - even before the airbag - is the seat belt. If you don't buckle up, you drive dangerously: In 2011, every fifth car occupant who was killed was not buckled up at the time of the accident, according to an analysis by the German Road Safety Council (DVR).
Punishment increases seatbelt rate
Fines only years later: in the first few years, those who did not wear seat belts got away with an instruction, and it was not until 1984 that people who did not buckle up were fined 40 DM. As a result, the seat belt rate rose rapidly. Incidentally, if you are caught without a belt today, it costs 30 euros.
Quick response: seat belts have been fitted with belt tensioners for around 20 years. In the event of an accident, he pulls the seat belt on to better protect the occupants - by up to 15 centimeters within ten to 15 milliseconds, according to the car manufacturer Opel. The belt force limiter reduces the pressure of the nylon fabric on the chest area so that nobody is injured by the belt.
Meter-long safety: If you completely roll out all seat belts in a new car, many meters come together. In the new Opel Astra, for example, the belt length is 15.90 meters. The front straps are each 3.40 meters long, the rear outer straps are each 3.10 meters, the middle section is the shortest at 2.90 meters.
Seat belts are not compulsory without seatbelts: Vehicles from the 1970s and older often have either no seatbelts at all, only lap seatbelts or only seatbelts on the front seats. Because seat belts are not required to be retrofitted, classic cars that do not have seat belts can also be driven without complying with the seat belt obligation. But: Children under 3 years of age have no business in a vintage car without seat belts, older children have to sit in the back. If the classic only has seat belts on the front seats, the child in a secured child seat belongs on the front passenger seat. (SP-X)
