Safety Issues with Seat Belt Article in Current MAN.

[denis4x4]

I cannot comprehend how the author thinks that all thread and a sheet metal floor will even begin to offer a secure mounting point for seat belts. I use a piece of channel iron as an additional cross member and 3/8" fine thread bolts with locking nuts to secure my belt anchors. Like others here, I feel that seat belts are not going to save me in a major crash.

[Kevin in NJ]

Originally Posted by denis4x4

I cannot comprehend how the author thinks that all thread and a sheet metal floor will even begin to offer a secure mounting point for seat belts. I use a piece of channel iron as an additional cross member and 3/8" fine thread bolts with locking nuts to secure my belt anchors. Like others here, I feel that seat belts are not going to save me in a major crash.

Brent brings out an interesting concept.

It does not matter what you feel the seat belts are going to do. If someone gets into your car and there are seat belts then there is a 'reasonable expectation' that they will perform to a certain level.

So you put in a seat belt and there is an accident. If the seat belt does not perform up with whatever modern expectation then you do not have a legal hope in hell. On the other hand, if there are no seat belts then all is fine.
This is really F'd up but that is how our legal system has been 'bent'.

So in essence there may be some legal reality where you have to insist that passengers do not wear seat belts that you install. Because if the seat belt fails then you are on less legal grounds then if there were no seat belts at all as the car came from the factory.

I would also suggest that you do not sell a car with the seat belts installed.

A real sad state of affairs.