Reply from TEAM TECH:
Jon,
This is a very extreme case. I have only heard of it happening one other time in history, however it was because of a manufacturer of a head and neck device that utilizes straps that travel back-to-front between the legs and attach at the buckle; but this is only heresay......
It has been proven test after test that an occupant of a 6pt passive restraint has an immense increased survivability and reduce personal injury that that of a person using a 5pt harness. It is unconceivable to understand that the injuries in this article where sustained by a properly installed 6pt harness. In that I mean a 6 point properly installed will separate at the legs rearward over the sides of the seat bottom, seat bottom at the seat back or have separate exit slots fabricated in the seat bottom such that the straps leave the thighs at a 30 deg. angle then exit through the seat to a rigid frame member. It is my opinion that this occupant most likely had a 6pt mounted straight down through the seat bottom as though it where a 5pt to a common point under the seat bottom. This person's 6pt was also likely to have had only one common to the two straps under the buckle and not like that at shown in the article figures provided.
TEAMTECH's ACR and SRT harnesses were specially designed as a joint venture by Dodge Viper engineers and TEAMTECH. Our special 6/7 point strap creates just the right amount of leg separation to provide comfort without jeopardizing safety of the "private areas" of the occupant. As a both a designer of premium seatbelts and user, I designed TEAMTECH harnesses such that the more rapidly a harness can retain the pelvic region, the lower the chest compression caused by the chest pressing against the shoulder harness, then the lower the chest compression, and the lower the head/next tension will be.
So as one can see there is an immense amount of thought, prototyping, testing and evaluation that must be done in passive restraint design.
As you study all of TEAMTECH competition you will quickly see why TEAMTECH is among the best in the world.
Respectfully Submitted,
Curt L. Tucker
President, AT, BS-NMU
TEAMTECH Motorsports Safety, Inc.
JonB's PS: -------------------------------------- There is no such thing as 'overly safety conscious' in a racing situatiion. The 6-pt is undisputedly better at holding a driver in the seat, for better driver control. SCCA changed their racing GCRs a while back to require 6pts or better, for good reason.
At any shopping mall you can survey folks who say that seatbelts can trap you, or drown you, or break your neck. In rare, freak circumstances this may be true. But are seatbelts safer than no setbelts? Are 3-points safer than 2?
