lap belt or nothing at all?

[My Sweet Blessings]

This is for my DH, not one of the kids. His car seat belt has decided not to work. It's an older car. the shoulder portion is in the door and retracts over the driver when the door is shut. He can buckle the lap belt, but the shoulder belt won't retract to him. He took our van to work today because he and I don't want him driving in it until it's fixed. However, it's got to get to a mechanic somehow. He was thinking we go after midnight to drop off the car at the place since there won't be a lot of traffic. He would then ride home in the van with me and the kids. We can't afford to have it towed to the place, so he has to drive it. I've heard terrible things about lap belts only. Is lap belt better than nothing? I'm worried.. even if it is going to be in the middle of the night and he's going to be super careful.

[Qarin]

I'm no expert, but I think a lapbelt and head-into-steering-wheel is better than nothing and ejected-through-windshield. My first car was a 1965 Pontiac- lap belts all around. I'm pretty sure lap belts were added to cars because they added a measure of safety over no restraints at all.

Is there any way you can find to manually force the shoulder belt to move into "on" position? Have you checked the fuses and stuff (or, do you hear the motor trying to work but the thing is jammed)?

[My Sweet Blessings]

I'm no expert, but I think a lapbelt and head-into-steering-wheel is better than nothing and ejected-through-windshield. My first car was a 1965 Pontiac- lap belts all around. I'm pretty sure lap belts were added to cars because they added a measure of safety over no restraints at all.

Is there any way you can find to manually force the shoulder belt to move into "on" position? Have you checked the fuses and stuff (or, do you hear the motor trying to work but the thing is jammed)?

yeah, i was thinking that. I just don't like the whole situation at all. DH tried several things to get it to move and to fix it. He got online and looked up things. He kept going from computer to car. he's decent with fixing things on the car, so I am surprised he didn't fix it.

[Kecia]

I owe my life to a lap-only belt because it kept me from being ejected in a serious crash 12 years ago. Preventing ejection is always the primary purpose of any restraint system. A shoulder belt along with that lap belt might have prevented the shoulder fracture and gash in my head that I sustained but the lap belt kept me in the car and I'm forever grateful.

Lap-only belts are a more serious problem for children than adults. An adult using a lap-only belt correctly (low and snug across the strong hip bones) won't have any upper body restraint but the belt will still prevent ejection and shouldn't cause any of the abdominal injuries that are so common in children.

Good luck getting the seatbelt fixed quickly!

[christineka]

We have a car with those annoying shoulder belts. I seriously doubt that our shoulder belts will even restrain an adult in a crash, but then we haven't tested them. There is just a lot of slack. Good luck on getting it fixed! I think driving when there is little traffic and at a safe speed would be the best idea to get to the service center.

[beeman]

As said before, the lap belt still keeps you in place, it just allows a lot more upper body movement. They are better than nothing, just not ideal :twocents: .