Table of Contents
Advertisement
S a f e ty b e lt s
-
-----------------'-----'
fl::.
WARNING (continue d)
•
Never remove , modify , dis assem ble, or try to repair th e saf ety
belts your se lf .
•
Alw ays keep the belt s cl ean. Dirt y b elt s m ay not work properly
and c an impai r the fu ncti o n of the in erti a reel => pag e 186, "S af et y
belts ". •
Illustrating
the principle
of an
accident
Frontal
collisions
and the law of physics
Frontal crashes create very strong forces for people riding
in vehicles.
Safety first
Fig. 90 Unbelted
OCC U·
pants in a vehicle
heading for a w all
Fig. 91 The vehicle
crashes into the w all.
The physical principles are simple . Both the vehic le and the passen-
gers possess energy which varies with vehicle speed and body
we ight . Engineers cal l this energy "kinetic 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.
Vehic le speed is the most significant factor . If the speed doub les
from 15 to 30 mph (25 to 50 km/h), the energy increases 4 t imes!
Because the occupants in this vehicle are not using saf ety belts
=> fig . 90, they will keep moving at the same speed the vehicle was
moving just before the crash, until something stops them - here, the
wall => fig. 91.
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 kgl or more . At higher speeds , these forces are
even greater.
People who do not use safety belts are also not attached to their
vehicle. In a frontal collision they wi ll also keep moving forward at
the speed their vehicle was trave ll ing just before t he crash. Of
course, the laws of physics don't just apply to frontal coll isions, they
determine what happens in all kinds of accidents and collisi o ns. •
Vehicle care
I
I
irechnical data
Advertisement
Table of Contents
