by MSI » Sat Aug 07, 2021 9:38 am
(from another forum, but our own
Stan McHenry answered so reposting here!)
Q: For those who have investigated crashes where small children were in seatbelts, not a child seat. Do you see the seatbelts locked, or have you seen them retract with no evidence that they had been worn? These are children who are required to be in a safety seat recommended for their size, but were not. Just sitting on the regular seat, with a seatbelt on.
A: My name is
Stan McHenry , a 30 year career police officer, 20 years of which were spent assigned to a tactical traffic unit that specialized in the investigation of and reconstruction of fatal and other serious motor vehicle crashes. I am also a Safe Kids Worldwide certified Child Passenger Safety Technician Instructor, having held that status since 1999.
Post crash seatbelt retractors being locked is fairly common and often aids in determining pre-crash use particular to specific seating positions. The absence of seat belt burn could be a matter of several factors including speed, weight of occupant, proper use of restraint system and delta-v.
What peaks my interest here is whether or not the lap/shoulder belt was being worn properly at the moment of impact?
From my experience as a police officer as well as a child passenger safety advocate, I know that at this age (10+), depending primarily on the height of the child, it is not uncommon for the child to place the shoulder portion of the lap/shoulder belt system either under their arm or behind their back which would obviously alter the loading and thereby the effectiveness of restraint system. Of particular concern would be if the shoulder portion was worn behind the child’s back. In this scenario, the injury exposure is tremendous with the lap portion only having to restrain the child, seriously exposing lower C-spine, liver, spleen and intestines in a combination of injuries known as Seat Belt Syndrome.
Another effect, if this were to be the case, would be the exposed portion of the lap/shoulder, (beyond the retractor) would be significantly shorter than would be expected as the shoulder belt runs from the latch plate up the child’s back rather than around the child’s lower torso, across the chest, over the shoulder and back to the retractor.
Hope this helps…
(from another forum, but our own [url=https://www.mchenrysoftware.com/board/viewtopic.php?f=20&t=1825]Stan McHenry[/url] answered so reposting here!)
[b]Q: For those who have investigated crashes where small children were in seatbelts, not a child seat. Do you see the seatbelts locked, or have you seen them retract with no evidence that they had been worn? These are children who are required to be in a safety seat recommended for their size, but were not. Just sitting on the regular seat, with a seatbelt on.[/b]
A: My name is [url=https://www.mchenrysoftware.com/board/viewtopic.php?f=20&t=1825]Stan McHenry[/url] , a 30 year career police officer, 20 years of which were spent assigned to a tactical traffic unit that specialized in the investigation of and reconstruction of fatal and other serious motor vehicle crashes. I am also a Safe Kids Worldwide certified Child Passenger Safety Technician Instructor, having held that status since 1999.
Post crash seatbelt retractors being locked is fairly common and often aids in determining pre-crash use particular to specific seating positions. The absence of seat belt burn could be a matter of several factors including speed, weight of occupant, proper use of restraint system and delta-v.
What peaks my interest here is whether or not the lap/shoulder belt was being worn properly at the moment of impact?
From my experience as a police officer as well as a child passenger safety advocate, I know that at this age (10+), depending primarily on the height of the child, it is not uncommon for the child to place the shoulder portion of the lap/shoulder belt system either under their arm or behind their back which would obviously alter the loading and thereby the effectiveness of restraint system. Of particular concern would be if the shoulder portion was worn behind the child’s back. In this scenario, the injury exposure is tremendous with the lap portion only having to restrain the child, seriously exposing lower C-spine, liver, spleen and intestines in a combination of injuries known as Seat Belt Syndrome.
Another effect, if this were to be the case, would be the exposed portion of the lap/shoulder, (beyond the retractor) would be significantly shorter than would be expected as the shoulder belt runs from the latch plate up the child’s back rather than around the child’s lower torso, across the chest, over the shoulder and back to the retractor.
Hope this helps…