hxe@rayssd.UUCP (02/07/84)
I used to like to wear my seatbelt; it never used to bother me and I
hardly noticed it when it was on. And the one time I forgot to put
it on because I was a passenger in another car, we were in an accident
and I dove into the rear-view mirror and was hurt so now I'm *really*
convinced that I like seatbelts, but I have a problem: I'm short and
the seatbelt in my new car (Reneault Alliance) cuts right across my
throat. I've tried every adjustment I can think of and it (I mean the
sharp edge of it) still cuts right across my throat. Given a choice,
I'd prefer a head injury to decapitation. I took it back to the dealer
immediately and asked him to adjust it, but he said that it's against
the law to tamper with a seatbelt and all he could do is replace it with
the same thing. Now all I can do is put the shoulder harness around the
seat behind me and wear the lap belt, but I'd prefer a safer alternative.
Any suggestions?
Heather Emanuel {allegra, decvax!brunix, linus, ccieng5} rayssd!hxegek@ihuxj.UUCP (Glenn Kapetansky) (02/10/84)
Whenever I drove a car whose shoulder harness was uncomfortable, I stuck the shoulder harness under my left armpit. At least on me, this put pressure on (flexible) ribs rather than (flexible) clavicle, and I also avoided getting hickeys on my neck. I'm not sure if this arrangement would sweep the shoulder harness right across your...er, anatomical attributes (I'm informed many women have positioning problems with the normal belt arrangement, too). Why don't you try it?
ariels@orca.UUCP (Ariel Shattan) (02/11/84)
Hoo, boy.
I've been plagued by this myself (not to mention the fact that if
you're short AND have a bosom, you're really up a creek!)
The only things I can figure out are:
1) make a little slip cover around the seatbelt right where it
rubs your neck. Make it out of soft terry cloth, and sew it
right there on the seatbelt (but not TO the belt, if you get
my meaning). Sew it very tightly, so that you have to work at
sliding it up and down. It won't help the fact that it cuts
acrossyour throat, but it won't abrade your skin.
2) rig a way to force the belt to go under the headrest, and put
a way to keep it there. This will change the angle at which
it will hit your body. Try rigging a hook of some sort off
the bottom of the headrest.
3) rig a hook on the side of the seat, so that you can hook the
belt under it and again change the angle.
4) get one of those folding seats that bus drivers use. It'll
lift you up, and therefore change that angle again. It'll
also make it easier to see over the steering wheel.
Talk to your handy friends and see if they can come up with
practicle ways to do 2) and 3). I know the thought of making holes
in your new vehicle hurts, but so does a seatbelt across the
throat!
Ariel Shattan
..!tektronix!orca!ariels