A STATISTICAL ANALYSIS OF 28,000 ACCIDENT CASES WITH EMPHASIS ON OCCUPANT RESTRAINT VALUE. IN: SEAT BELTS: THE DEVELOPMENT OF AN ESSENTIAL SAFETY FEATURE

Data from more than 28,000 accident cases was used to evaluate the value of the three-point safety belt by statistical analysis. The accidents concerned mainly two cars only in which 37,511 belted and unbelted front seat occupants were involved. The safety harness in question is the Volvo three-point combined lap and upper torso harness with a so called slip joint. The results from the analysis led to the following conclusions: the harness reduces substantially the frequency of all kinds of injury and the frequency of certain injuries very substantially; offers effective protection against ejection; does not cause any serious injury to the wearer, but in some severe accidents slight injuries such as cracks in single rib, bruises, etc. To improve the effect of the safety belt even more, the paper strongly recommends that emphasis should be given to factors which will contribute to more frequent use of the belt and easier adjustment of the belt.