"SMART" SAFETY BELTS FOR INJURY REDUCTION

This paper discusses concepts to further improve the effectiveness of safety belt systems in vehicles equipped with airbags. Although safety belts have demonstrated significant benefit in preventing and mitigating occupant injuries, the addition of the airbag as a supplementary restraint system has introduced additional parameters for occupant protection which need to be incorporated to optimize overall restraint system performance. Generally, the airbag has contributed to injury reduction as an integral part of the total occupant restraint system. However, when certain conditions are present in a crash, the interaction between the occupant, safety belt and airbag may result in increased occupant loading over a safety belt only restraint system. This increased loading may lead to higher chest acceleration and chest compression. Smart safety belt systems sense specific crash event characteristics, including crash severity, and respond accordingly. Rather than deliver a single level of occupant restraint, smart safety belt systems have the potential to respond with varying levels of occupant restraint and energy absorption. Elements for optimizing the total safety system combination include safety belt pretensioning, load limiters, energy absorption devices and complementary smart airbag systems. Safety belt enhancements which may present meaningful occupant protection benefits are discussed. Language: en