Why Use Safety Belts - Audi A8 2018 Owner's Manual

Sa f e t y belts
- Failure to pay attention to the warning light
that come on, could lead to personal injury.
Why use safety belts?
Frontal collisions and the law of physics
Frontal crashes create very strong forces for peo-
ple riding in vehicles.
Fig. 220
Unbe lted occupants in a vehicle heading for a wall
Fig. 221 The veh icle crashes into the wall
The physical principles are simple . Both the vehi-
cle and the passengers possess energy which var-
ies with vehicle speed and body weight. Engi-
neers call this energy "kinet ic energy."
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 fac t or. If
the speed doubles from 15 to 30 mph (25 to SO
km/h), the energy increases 4 times!
Because the passengers of th is veh icle are not us-
ing safety belts<=> fig . 220, they will keep mov ing
at the same speed the vehicle was moving just
before the crash, unti l something stops them -
here, the wall<=> fig. 221.
220
The same principles apply to people sitting in a
vehicle that is involved in a fronta l collision. 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 greater
speeds, these forces are even higher.
People who do not use safety belts are a lso not
attached to their vehicle. In a frontal coll is ion
they will also keep mov ing fo rward at the speed
their vehicle was travelling just befo re the crash.
Of course, the laws of physics don't just apply to
frontal collisions, they determine what happens
in a ll kinds of accide nts and co llisions.
What happens to occupants not wearing
safety belts?
In crashes unbelted occupants cannot s top
themselves from flying forward and being in-
jured or killed. Always wear your safety belts!
Fig. 222 A driver not wearing a safety belt is violently
thrown forward
Fig. 22 3 A rear passenger not wearing a safety belt will fly
forwa rd a nd strike the driver
Unbelted occ upants are not ab le t o res ist t he tre-
mendous forces of impact by holding tight or
braci ng themselves . Without the benefit of safe -
ty restraint systems, the unrestra ined occupant
will slam violently into the steering wheel,
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