scatterbunny
New member
What's the earliest model year sedan with a center shoulderbelt? Anyone know?
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On December 8, 2004, NHTSA announced a final rule requiring that rear center seats in all new passenger vehicles be equipped with lap/shoulder safety belts. All passenger vehicles will be required to comply with the new rule by 2008, when NHTSA estimates the change will result in 10 to 23 fewer highway fatalities per year, and 245 to 495 fewer injuries. It comes in response to Anton's Law, passed to increase child passenger safety and to encourage the use of booster seats by older children.
"This rule will greatly improve safety for both children and older people," said former NHTSA Administrator Jeffrey W. Runge, M.D. "One huge advantage is that lap-and-shoulder belts can be used with belt positioning booster seats, making the rear center seat the safest place for older children."
Manufacturers were not previously required to install shoulder belts in rear center seating positions, although many automakers did so voluntarily. Rear center seating positions are the favored location among parents for their children to ride due to their position furthest away from the point of impact in a side collision. As stated previously, booster seats must be used with the lap-and-shoulder belt system, never with the lap belt only.
Since 1989, NHTSA has required that all rear-window-side seats in new passenger vehicles be equipped with lap/shoulder belts. As of December 2004, 23 percent of new passenger cars, along with 51 percent of new vans and light trucks (SUVs and pickups), are only equipped with lap belts for use by rear-center-seat passengers.
In addition to cars and light trucks, the new rule applies to 12- and 15-passenger vans. Side-facing seats are exempt. The rule will be phased in by manufacturers, with half of model year 2006 passenger vehicles offering the lap/shoulder safety belts, increasing to 80 percent of vehicles in model year 2007 and 100 percent in model year 2008.
All passenger vehicles will be required to comply with the new rule by 2008,
I knew they all had to have them beginning in '08, but I'm looking at mid-late 90's sedans right now and am hoping to find one with a center l/s belt.
My SIL has a 99 ford taurus that has the l/s belt, BUT the shoulder belt and lap belt are seperate and the sholder belt clips on to the lap belt. You can either use the l/s belt or just the lap belt. I hope that made sence
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