Chevrolet Beat diesel Owner's Manual page 29

uninjured. Why? In the first instance,
the body hit the non-yielding concrete
surface and stopped immediately. All of
the energy the sprinter built up was
absorbed by the structures of the body,
not by the non-yielding concrete
surface. In the second example, the
body had exactly the same amount of
energy that had to be absorbed as in the
first example, but it continued to move
into the padding, giving the body
additional time and distance to slow
down to a complete stop as the padding
absorbed the sprinter's energy by
deforming.
If a car crashes into a concrete wall at 30
miles per hour (50 km/h), the front
bumper of the car stops immediately,
but the passenger compartment stops
more gradually as the front structure of
the vehicle crumples. The belted
occupant is held to the seat and gains
the advantage of the cushion provided
by the crumpling of the front of the
vehicle and the stretching of the safety
belt webbing. That belted occupant's
body slows down from 30 mph
(50 km/h) to zero over a distance of 90-
120 cm (3-4 feet). That belted occupant
also remains properly positioned so
that, if the air bag (if provided) deploys
in a frontal collision, the occupant
might never strike any rigid structures
in the vehicle. The unbelted occupant
receives no such benefit. The unbelted
person is not attached to the vehicle and
so that person continues to travel at the
vehicle's pre-crash speed of 30 miles
per hour (50 km/h) until striking a hard
object at approximately 30 miles per
hour (50 km/h) and stopping abruptly.
Even in a frontal collision in which the
air bag (if provided) deploys, the
unbelted front seat occupant remains at
greater risk of serious injury or death
than the properly restrained front seat
occupant.
Seats and Restraints
Warning
SAFETY BELTS PROTECT
Accident statistics show that drivers
and passengers properly wearing
safety belts have a lower risk of
being injured and a higher chance of
surviving an accident. For this
reason, wearing a safety belt is
legally required in most countries.
WEARING THE SAFETY BELT
Each front seat and each outboard
rear seat of your CHEVROLET
vehicle is equipped with a three-
point safety belt system that is
anchored at three locations. All front
and rear seat belts are stored and
locked by a retractor mechanism.
When set in its normal emergency
locking mode, the three-point safety
belt requires no length adjustment
and allows freedom of movement
when the vehicle moves at constant
speeds.
(Continued)
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