Benefits of a 3+2-point belt system and an inboard torso side support in frontal, far-side and rollover crashes

Occupants using a 3-point belt are still being injured in numerous crashes. In side collisions, occupants on the opposite side of the vehicle to the intrusion are mainly restrained by the lap part of the 3-point belt, with the associated high risk of sustaining a severe head injury. During a rollover crash, the 3-point belt cannot fully prevent harmful head impacts. In this study, an additional 2-point torso belt is combined with an inboard torso side support. The idea is to distribute the belt load on more anatomical structures (bones) and restrain the occupant in the inboard and upward directions. The inboard side support prevents direct loading by the 2-point belt to the cervical spine in far-side collisions. To assess whether this design measure is of benefit, frontal, far-side and rollover tests were performed.