Amanda's+Seatbelts+Projec

Seatbelt Project

Stats.

For every one percent increase in safety belt use, 172 lives and close to $100 million in annual injury and death costs could be saved. Safety belts when used properly reduce the number of serious traffic injuries by 50 percent and fatalities by 60-70 percent. Safety belt use is one of the best defenses against the unpredictable actions of the drunk driver. A common cause of death and injury to children in motor vehicles is being crushed by adults who are not wearing safety belts. 63% of people killed in accidents are not wearing seat belts. Seat belts are the most effective safety devices in vehicles today, estimated to save 9,500 lives each year. Yet only 68 percent of the motor vehicle occupants are buckled. If 90 percent of Americans buckle up, we will prevent more than 5,500 deaths and 132,000 injuries annually.

http://www.car-accidents.com/pages/seat_belts.html****

http://www.jmu.edu/safetyplan/vehicle/generaldriver/safetybelt.shtml

http://www.policyalmanac.org/economic/archive/seatbelts.shtml**

Seat Belt Works

seatbelts consist of a lap belt and a shoulder belt, which are securely attached to the frame of the car in order to keep passengers in their seats. The seatbelt applies most of the stopping force to the rib cage and the pelvis, widening the area of stopping force so the damage is less. The seatbelt itself, made out of webbing, has more give than a windshield or dashboard making the stop not quite so abrupt.

http://www.essortment.com/hobbies/seatbelts_sgmw.htm

Newer vehicles have a pretensioner that tightens the seatbelt. The pretensioner tightens any slack in the seatbelt when the car is stopped quickly. The pretensioner actually pulls in on the belt, moving the passenger into the goodcrash position. If you are 7 years or older you have to wear a sealt belt if not your first offense is $15

The 3 Laws (Newtons)

1. "An object at rest remains at rest, and an object in motion remains in motion at constant speed and in a straight line unless acted on by an unbalenced force" The seatbelt acts as the unbalenced force 2. "The acceleration of an object depends on the mass of the object and amount of force applied"If you are moving faster the sealtbelt has to hold it because you will have more force 3 . "Whenever one object exerts a force on a second object the second object exerts an equal and opposite force on the first."