WARNING (Continued)
■
The lock tongue should only be inserted into the lock which is the correct
one for your seat. Wrong use of the safety belt will reduce its capacity to
protect and the risk of injury increases.
■
The slot of the belt tongue must not be blocked otherwise the belt
tongue will not lock in place properly.
■
Many layers of clothing and loose clothing (e. g. a winter coat over a jack-
et) do not allow you to be correctly seated and impairs proper operation of
the seat belts.
■
Do not use clamps or similar items, which prevent the lash function of the
safety belt. A seat belt which is hanging too loose can result in injuries as
the body is moved forward by the kinetic energy produced in an accident
and is then suddenly held firm by the belt.
■
The seat belts for the rear seats can only fulfil their function reliably
when the seat backrests are correctly locked into position » page 84.
WARNING
Information on the care and maintenance of safety belts
■
The belt webbing must always be kept clean. Soiled belt webbing may im-
pair proper operation of the inertia reel » page 176, Seat belts.
■
The seat belts must not be removed or changed in any way. Do not at-
tempt to repair the seat belts yourself.
■
Check the condition of all the seat belts on a regular basis. If any damage
to the seat belts, seat belt connections, inertia reel or the lock is detected,
the relevant seat belt must be replaced by a specialist garage.
■
Damaged seat belts which have been subjected to stress in an accident
and were therefore stretched, must be replaced – this is best done by a
specialist garage. The anchorage points for the belts should also be
checked.
Notice
The national legal requirements must be observed when using seat belts.
The physical principle of a head-on collision
Fig. 4 Driver without a fastened seat belt/rear seat passenger without a
fastened seat belt
Lesen und beachten Sie zuerst auf Seite 12.
Motion energy, so-called kinetic energy, is produced as soon as the vehicle is
moving, both for the vehicle and its occupants.
The magnitude of this kinetic energy depends essentially on the speed at
which the vehicle is travelling and on the weight of the vehicle including the
occupants. The greater the speed and weight increase, the greater the
amount of energy which has to be absorbed in the event of an accident.
The speed of the vehicle is the most important factor. Doubling the speed of
the vehicle from 25 km/h up to 50 km/hour increases the kinetic energy four
times.
The opinion that it is possible to support your body in a minor accident with
your hands, is incorrect. Even in a collision at only a low speed, the forces act-
ing on the body are such that it is no longer possible to support your body.
Even if you only drive at a speed of 30 km/h to 50 km/h, the forces that your
body is exposed to in the event of an accident can exceed a metric ton
(1000 kg).
For example, a person's weight of 80 kg “increases” at 50 km/h to 4.8 tons
(4800 kg).
In the event of a frontal collision, occupants of the car not wearing a seat belt
are thrown forward and strike parts of the vehicle interior in an uncontrolled
manner, such as the steering wheel, dash panel or windscreen » fig. 4 -
. In
certain circumstances you could even be thrown out of the vehicle, which
could cause life threatening or even fatal injuries.
13
Seat belts