Should Airplanes Have Better Seat Belts?

brightredmtn · Jul 14, 2013

After watching the coverage of the Asiana crash the wish for adult CARES harnesses has crossed my mind! I found these two articles about airplane seat belts very interesting. In this article an attorney is reviewing data to see if coach passengers who had only lap belts suffered more injuries than first and business passengers who had shoulder harnesses. I found it interesting that compartmentalization is used in coach and first and business have harnesses because those seats are too far apart from each other for compartmentalization to work. I never thought about that in coach but it makes perfect sense.

This article discussed injuries caused by the seat belts and a surgeon said he thought one person's spinal injuries could have been prevented by a harness.

I know that air travel is MUCH safer than car travel but that doesn't mean the industry shouldn't take appropriate precautions to improve safety even more so! I'm still in awe that so many people survived the crash. One article I read said there were few bad injuries among children. I wonder if any of them were in a restraint?

ketchupqueen · Jul 14, 2013

I would love to see adjustable shoulder belts like on the bus seats IMMI designed that are on some Greyhounds... I would also support a harness requirement for children who are too young to fit the three point belt properly.

I did note one of the articles said shoulder harnesses are usually reserved for spots without seats close in front, like bulkheads ... I've yet to see a bulkhead seat without lap-only belt in my limited experience, anyone know ofwhat kind of planes get them just by virtue of being bulkhead rows?

brightredmtn · Jul 14, 2013

ketchupqueen said:
I did note one of the articles said shoulder harnesses are usually reserved for spots without seats close in front, like bulkheads ... I've yet to see a bulkhead seat without lap-only belt in my limited experience, anyone know ofwhat kind of planes get them just by virtue of being bulkhead rows?

I fly quite a bit and I've never noticed a harness in a coach bulk head nor in an exit row which may be too far away from the seat in front for compartmentalization to work properly. I'll ask on my next flight but not holding my breath.