SAFETY PERFORMANCE OF A REAR SEAT BELT SYSTEM WITH OPTIMIZED SEAT CUSHION DESIGN

A rear seat belt system with a submarining-preventing seat design was developed. The seat has a contoured floor pan with a pronounced ridge at the front end and a seat belt with carefully located attachment points. Sled tests simulating 30 mph barrier crashes were run with both a standard Part 572 dummy and a Part 572 dummy with a modified pelvis. Both dummies had pelvis mounted submarining indicators. Comparative tests were run with a rear seat with a flat floor pan. The tests proved the efficacy of the ridge type seat in preventing submarining as well as giving low injury criteria.