Seat ALTEA Owner's Manual page 19

Physical principles of frontal collisions
It is easy to explain how the laws of physics work in the case of a head-on
collision: when a vehicle starts moving,
"kinetic energy" is created both in the passengers and inside the vehicle.
The amount of "kinetic energy" depends on the speed of the vehicle and
the weight of the vehicle and its passengers. The higher the speed and the
greater the weight, the more energy there is to be "absorbed" in an acci-
dent.
Safety
Fig. 6 Vehicle about to
hit a wall: the vehicle oc-
cupants are not wearing
seat belts
Fig. 7 The vehicle hits
the wall: the vehicle oc-
cupants are not wearing
seat belts
⇒ F ig. 6
a type of energy called
Operation
The most significant factor, however, is the speed of the vehicle. If the
speed doubles from 25 km/h (15 mph) to 50 km/h (30 mph), for example,
the corresponding kinetic energy is multiplied by four.
Given that the passengers in our example are not fastened by seat belts, all
of the occupants' kinetic energy has to be absorbed at the point of impact
⇒ F ig.
7.
Even at speeds of 30 km/h (19 mph) to 50 km/h (30 mph), the forces acting
on bodies in a collision can easily exceed one tonne (1000 kg). At greater
speed these forces are even higher.
Vehicle occupants not wearing seat belts are not "attached" to the vehicle.
In a head-on collision, they will move forward at the same speed their vehi-
cle was travelling just before the impact. This example applies not only to
head-on collisions, but to all accidents and collisions.
Advice
Seat belts

Technical specifications
17