paulr@tekig1.UUCP (Paul Rishel) (02/12/84)
Many new cars now seem to have seatbelts that lock up automatically, when the car is stopping suddenly. This is apparently to allow you to move about normally during normal driving without being stopped short by your shoulder harness. They are activated by a device which senses sudden acceleration of the vehicle. My Toyota truck has this type of harness, and at first I wasn't sure what to think because I reasoned it must be an electronic gizmo, and how is something like that going to stay in action during a collision? But it seems to latch up for a few seconds after it's activated, and to stay latched if I lean into it. This is like the "centrifugal" kind which locked up when you yanked on them. An interesting thing is that any direction of sudden accel- eration will lock mine up: sharp curves, bumps, even slamming the door (even with the engine turned off!). It's kind of annoying over a bumpy road when I'm trying to play with the radio, but it's nice on tight turns - the harness holds me in. One last thing - I'm getting tired of the "new twist" articles. They all seem to all say the same thing and the point has been made. What has become increrasingly inter- esting, though, is the recent discussion on harnesses for short people. I have short friends who wear the harness behind their backs because it's terribly uncomfortable and because it would probably crush their windpipe in a bad collision. How can this be rectified?