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From: tjt@kobold.UUCP
Newsgroups: net.auto
Subject: Re: mandatory seatbelt laws
Message-ID: <270@kobold.UUCP>
Date: Thu, 2-Feb-84 12:23:10 EST
Article-I.D.: kobold.270
Posted: Thu Feb  2 12:23:10 1984
Date-Received: Wed, 8-Feb-84 07:42:25 EST
References: <800@qubix.UUCP> <823@hao.UUCP>
Organization: Masscomp, Westford, MA
Lines: 38

Greg Woods (hao!woods) asks (in net.followup -- I'll reply here):

    How does the insurance company get to determine that the injured driver
    (in a serious accident, of course) was not wearing a seatbelt? Would
    you trust this judgment to *your* insurance company? I sure wouldn't!

One possibility: people here have previously stated that seatbelts
won't prevent *all* injuries.  In fact, if you were wearing seatbelts,
and the accident was severe enough to cause you serious injuries, I
would expect to see some characteristic injuries.  e.g. bruises and
abrasions where the seatbelt cut into your lap and chest.

I'm not sure how you would determine if you were wearing seatbelts in a
less severe accident (i.e. no injury from the seatbelt itself),
although I would also expect that most of these accidents would result
in little or no injury anyway if you were wearing your seatbelt so you
wouldn't have an insurance claim (at least, not for personal injury --
property damage to your car is another matter).

If you want a more objective test, I'm sure that something could be
built into the seatbelt mechanism itself to record peak stress.  I'm
not sure what the likelihood for fraud would be here.  Presumably it
would be too difficult and expensive to crash your car once with a
dummy inside it in order to "pre-stress" the seatbelt and then not wear
it.

I think that there is already perceptible damage to a typical
inertia/retractor seatbelt mechanism in a serious collision since I
vaguely recall some notice in some new car book that advised inspecting
or replacing the seatbelts after any serious collision.

Note: I have not been personally involved in a serious accident, with
or without a seatbelt.  If you *have*, feel free to confirm or deny any
of this.

-- 
	Tom Teixeira,  Massachusetts Computer Corporation.  Westford MA
	...!{ihnp4,harpo,decvax}!masscomp!tjt   (617) 692-6200 x275