Ford's New Seat Belts

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Guest

New member
Re: Ford inflatable seat belt and car seats

I dunno, domestics don't exactly have a great track record on getting stuff right. I'd rather not put my life in Ford's hands on faith.
 

Nisha

New member
In everyday use, the inflatable belts operate like conventional seat belts and are safe and compatible with infant and children safety car and booster seats.
(From the article in the above post)
 

LISmama810

Admin - CPS Technician
Compatible in what way? Compatible meaning "it will go through a belt path" or compatible meaning "Oh, it's fine when the airbag inflates inside the belt path"?

Also, kudos to Ford for trying to keep kids safe, but I don't see how this helps much.

Ford engineer Srini Sundararajan has been working on the inflatable belts the last ten years and says their value goes well beyond the protection it provides. But the fact it's a padded, more comfortable seat belt means more passengers, especially kids, will be encouraged to buckle up. For years, engineers have been looking for ways to reduce or eliminate "seat belt syndrome".

Seat belt syndrome refers to the fact many kids under 8 have suffered internal or spinal injuries because they were not properly belted in. Sometimes kids put the shoulder strap behind them because it's uncomfortable. Sometimes they're too small and the belt doesn't hold them in place effectively, or constricts across their bellies, causing internal injuries.

Kids don't think, "Wow, this seat belt isn't padded. I think I'll put it behind my back." They think, "Wow, this seat belt is cutting into my neck and restricting my movement. I think I'll put it behind my back."

Now what happens when an airbag deploys behind them? Does it force them even farther forward?

I also worry that tying this in with children's safety is going to result in people thinking they REALLY don't need a booster since they have this new special seatbelt.

Sorry, I'm just not convinced yet.
 
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TheNimpsGirl

New member
(From the article in the above post)

Compatible in what way? Compatible meaning "it will go through a belt path" or compatible meaning "Oh, it's fine when the airbag inflates inside the belt path"?

Also, kudos to Ford for trying to keep kids safe, but I don't see how this helps much.



Kids don't think, "Wow, this seat belt isn't padded. I think I'll put it behind my back." They think, "Wow, this seat belt is cutting into my neck and restricting my movement. I think I'll put it behind my back."

Now what happens when an airbag deploys behind them? Does it force them even farther forward?

I also worry that tying this in with children's safety is going to result in people thinking they REALLY don't need a booster since they have this new special seatbelt.

Sorry, I'm just not convinced yet.

I wondered the same things when I saw it on the news. I'm glad they are thinking of new ways to keep passengers safe but it's safe according to Ford... but what about the car seat manufactorers? Have they okayed it? It would make me very nervous to use it with a car seat because I wouldn't know how much damage, if any, would be done to the car seat when the belt inflated on impact inside the belt path.

I also looked at the images they used on the news with the child animation and went, "fantastic, now one more reason people will give for not using a car seat."
 

Niea

New member
Re: Ford inflatable seat belt and car seats

I'm confused by what you're confused by (the bolded part).

If the seat belt is buckled at all, whether an adult, a child, a carseat, or a booster is in use, the airbag will deploy. In the case of carseats and boosters, it won't interfere with installation.

If the seating positing is empty and the belt hangs unused, the airbag won't deploy.

Or were you confused by something else??
 

babygirlsmom1005

New member
Re: Ford inflatable seat belt and car seats

So what happens to a carseat with the seat belt buckled (using seat belt for install) and a child in it :confused: Also, does that mean every time your child isn't in a carseat with the belt install, it should be unbuckled, causing the carseat to become a projectial object (or even a booster seat)?

There are a few of us out there that just don't use LATCH at all.....
 

rochelle

New member
Re: Ford inflatable seat belt and car seats

If the seat belt is buckled at all, whether an adult, a child, a carseat, or a booster is in use, the airbag will deploy. In the case of carseats and boosters, it won't interfere with installation.

Thats what I am confused about. If a car seat is in use and the airbag deploy, wouldn't it exert a force on the car seat or worse break the car seat assuming I am using long belt path?
 

Judi

CPST/Firefighter
Re: Ford inflatable seat belt and car seats

Well, even using latch, we teach to buckle the seat belt, then set the car seat on the seat and install. How will that work?
 

jess71903

Ambassador
Re: Ford inflatable seat belt and car seats

Since these are meant to be for children as well, I'm wondering if the force they use to deploy is significantly lower than what we think of with air bags. I mean, even if you're installing a TF and have the lock-offs closed, and it blows the lock-offs, the seatbelt will then be locked (emergency) and hold the car seat as it's supposed to, right?
 

Niea

New member
Re: Ford inflatable seat belt and car seats

Thats what I am confused about. If a car seat is in use and the airbag deploy, wouldn't it exert a force on the car seat or worse break the car seat assuming I am using long belt path?

OH! Yeah, I don't know. I'm guessing since the airbag deploys gently, the carseat's rigidity may just prevent the bag from deploying at the spot.

I agree, though, that I don't necessarily trust Ford to have thought of everything and I'd like to see an independent party do some testing and let the vehicles be on the market for a while before I'd ever use the new feature.
 

bobandjess99

Senior Community Member
how could it be compatible with carseats? i'm thinking of a narrow-ass scenera Rfing beltpath..when that belt inflates, whats to say it isn't going to EXPLODE the carseat? seriously? Or the TF lockoffs..it's gonna just blow them up?
 

MomToEliEm

Moderator
What about with an infant seat install without the base? I would think the airbag may cause the seatbelt to pop out of that little belt path notch on the top of the seat and then the carseat might go flying.

Hopefully Ford will do full testing with all the different scenarios. If they seem to pass with no performance issues on the carseats, I don't have any issues using these new seatbelts to install the carseats. Hopefully they can release their crash test results first though to show us that they did test them and no negative results occurred.
 

Judi

CPST/Firefighter
What about the storing of the seat belt? We buckle the seat belt, install the car seat with latch, over it. What happens?
 

LISmama810

Admin - CPS Technician
What about with an infant seat install without the base? I would think the airbag may cause the seatbelt to pop out of that little belt path notch on the top of the seat and then the carseat might go flying.

The airbag is only on the shoulder portion, though. With baseless infant seats (at least all the ones I know of), only the lap portion goes through. So that would actually be one of the few types of seats that probably would be ok with it.
 

MustangMama

Active member
New breakthrough in passenger safety?

http://autos.aol.com/?adl=59151&icid=main|main|dl4|link3|http://autos.aol.com/?adl=59151

"Air bags have made their way to nearly every part of the automobile, from front air bags in the steering wheel and dashboard to side curtain airbags that drop down from the ceiling and from the side pillars.

But now Ford has taken it a step further: they've put air bags inside a seat belt. The new belts are designed to provide additional protection for rear-seat occupants, often children and older passengers who can be more vulnerable to head, chest and neck injuries."

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=40gfYi4GPNU"]YouTube- New Ford Inflatable Seat Belts[/ame]

http://www.reuters.com/article/pressRelease/idUS192392+05-Nov-2009+PRN20091105

ETA: Sorry, I didn't see the original thread. Looks like mine has been joined with the original.
 
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mbbowman

New member
Re: New breakthrough in passenger safety?

This is a very cool idea, but I hope they plan on a way to turn it off for passengers riding in infant seats, convertibles, and FFing harnessed seats.

Thanks for the link!
 

swtgi1982

New member
Re: Ford inflatable seat belt and car seats

So what happens to a carseat with the seat belt buckled (using seat belt for install) and a child in it :confused: Also, does that mean every time your child isn't in a carseat with the belt install, it should be unbuckled, causing the carseat to become a projectial object (or even a booster seat)?

There are a few of us out there that just don't use LATCH at all.....

Thank you! I can hardly every get a good install with latch in any vehicle with my seats. (To loose for my liking)
 

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