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104
S a fet y belt s
- Failure to pay attention to the warning
light that comes 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. 10 9
Unbe lted occupants in a ve hicle heading for a
wall
Fig. 110
The vehicle cra shes into the wa ll.
The physical principles are simple. Both the
vehicle and the passengers possess energy
which varies with veh icle speed and body
weight . Engineers call this energy "kinetic en-
e rgy."
The higher the speed of the vehicle and the
g reater the vehicle 's we ight, the more energy
that has to be "absorbed" in the crash .
Vehicle speed is the most sign ificant factor.
If
the speed doubles from 15 to 30 mph (25 to
50 km/h), the ene rgy increases 4 t imes!
Because the occupants in this vehicle are not
using safety belts¢ fig. 109, they will keep
moving at the same speed the vehicle was
moving just before the crash, unt il something
stops them - here, the wall ¢ fig . 110 .
The same principles apply to people sitting in
a vehicle that is involved in a frontal 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 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 coll i-
s io n they will also keep moving forward at the
speed their veh icle was t ravell ing just before
the crash . Of course, the laws of physics don't
just app ly t o frontal collisions, t hey determine
what happens in all kinds of accidents and col-
lisions .
What happens to occupants not wearing
safety belts?
In crashes unbelted occupants cannot stop
themselves from flying forward and being in-
jured or killed. Always wear your safety belts!
Fig. 111
A driver not wea ring a saf et y belt is violent ly
thrown fo rwa rd
Unbelted occupants are not able to resist the
t reme ndous forces of impact by holding tight
or bracing themse lves . Withou t the benefit of
safety restr aint systems, the unrestra ined oc-
cupan t will slam violen t ly into t he steering
whee l, instr ument panel, windshield, or what-
ever else is in the way .!> fig. 111 . This impact
with the vehicle interior has a ll the energy
they had ju st before the crash .
Never rely on a irbags alone fo r protection .
Even when they deploy , a irbags provide on ly
additional protection . Airbags are not sup -
posed to deploy in all kinds of accidents. Al-
t hough your Audi is equipped with airbags, all ..,
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