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From: seifert@ihuxl.UUCP (D.A. Seifert)
Newsgroups: net.auto
Subject: Re: seatbelt statistics
Message-ID: <899@ihuxl.UUCP>
Date: Wed, 8-Feb-84 08:08:19 EST
Article-I.D.: ihuxl.899
Posted: Wed Feb  8 08:08:19 1984
Date-Received: Fri, 10-Feb-84 01:40:54 EST
References: <797@hou5d.UUCP> <427@pyuxn.UUCP>, <174@opus.UUCP> <539@pyuxa.UUCP> <1900@ihnss.UUCP>
Organization: AT&T Bell Labs, Naperville, IL
Lines: 37

I remember the great '74 experiment in behaviour modification.
I would occasionally catch a ride home from school with the
owner of a shiny new '74 Vega.  Being designed and built by the
wonderous firm of *GM*, it took a good 5 minutes to get the
stupid belt buckled.  Pull the belt too fast and it locks,
pull it too slow and it locks. Once the belt comes to a stop
you cannot pull it out any further unless you let it 
a l l   r e e l   b a c k   i n   a n d   s t a r t   o v e r .
The procedure is: pull out *lots* of belt, at the precise speed
that the system likes, hold the reel end with one hand to keep it
from retracting back in, and use your other hand to fasten the
buckle end, then let the slack retract.  Meanwhile, my friend
is sitting there leaning on the ignition key glaring at me
for being so slow (I guess after a couple thousand times you learn 
to do it a little faster).

Moral: you can kill any idea (good, bad, or in-between) with
a sufficiently lousy implementation.

On the other hand, Volkswagon has a fairly reasonable passive
restraint system.  One end of the shoulder harness is fastened
to the door, the other end (with inertia reel) is next to the
handbrake lever.  There is no lap belt. (There is a knee-bumper
thing to prevent submarining.)  Open the door, get in, and
*poof!* the belt is there.  Real convienant for those times
when you're jumping in and out of the car a lot and normal belts
are a pain.  The only real disadvantage is that there isn't a lap
belt, so it doesn't hold you in place as well during high-g
activities.  Seems like they could do the same thing with a lap 
belt?

-- 
		_____
	       /_____\		from the flying doghouse of
	      /_______\			Snoopy
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	    ____|___|_____	    ihnp4!ihuxl!seifert