Seat Mii 2014 Owner's Manual page 20

18 Seat belts
The seat belt status is displayed for around 30 seconds when a seat belt in
the rear seats is fastened or unfastened. You can switch off this display by
pressing the button.
0.0 / SET
The seat belt status flashes for a maximum of 30 seconds when a seat belt
in the rear seats is unfastened while the vehicle is in motion. An audible
warning will also be heard if the vehicle is travelling at over 25 km/h
(15 mph).
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 in both the vehicle and its occupants.
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 "released" in an accident.
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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, in
the event of collision against a wall, the entire amount of kinetic energy will
be only absorbed by the mentioned impact
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
Fig. 6 Vehicle about to
hit a wall: the vehicle oc- head-on collisions, but to all accidents and collisions.
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
⇒ F ig.
7.
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