Back Seat Lives Matter

06/11/2024

WHICH ARE SOME COMMUNITY GROUPS YOU WOULD REACH OUT TO IN ORDER TO QUICKLY SPREAD REAR SEAT SAFETY AWARENESS?

06/02/2024

WHAT ARE LOAD LIMITERS AND PRETENSIONERS, ITEMS USUALLY FOUND ONLY IN THE FRONT SEAT?

Seat belt pretensioners retract the safety belt almost instantly in a crash to remove excess slack.

Load limiters control the tension in the seat belts, allowing them to yield in a crash, preventing the shoulder belt from exerting too much force on the chest of an occupant.

SEE NHTSA SITE AT https://shorturl.at/Vv7Bq

SEARCH FOR PDF OF:

"Effectiveness of Pretensioners
And Load Limiters for
Enhancing Fatality Reduction
By Seat Belts, NOVEMBER 2013"

06/02/2024

FRONT VS. BACK -- TABLE SCRAPS

There IS a difference between front and rear seat belts that not many consumers are aware of.

Of course, wear your seatbelt while you lobby for change to make the back seat safer. Seatbelts found in the rear seat are not the technological equals of those in the front seat. Learn the differences and protect a loved one. Example: Honda CR-V front seat replacement seat belt cost is $919.00, back seat cost is $368.00.

Rear seat passengers get the table scraps of passenger safety.

It seems that every other TV commercial features a car manufacturer. Can we get the network news outlets to cover the rear seat belt issue more completely?

There IS a difference that not many are aware of.

Dedicated to the memory of CM

05/15/2024

REAR SEAT PASSENGERS SPEAKING
ABOUT FRONT SEAT PASSENGERS AND THEIR
STATE OF THE ART SEATBELTS

"WHAT HAVE THEY GOT THAT I AIN'T GOT?" ..... asked the Cowardly Lion.
(hint: COURAGE)

Rear Seat Passengers, Pay Attention:

Front seat passengers enjoy advanced seatbelt features such as pretensioners and load limiters which, when combined with airbags, enhance their safety significantly during a crash. But what about those in the rear seat?

Traveling in the REAR SEAT requires more COURAGE than sitting up front because rear seatbelts usually lack these advanced safety features. It’s time to address this discrepancy.

Write your auto manufacturer, Congressman and Senator and the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety to put rear seat passenger safety among their top priorities. Protect our youth, our elderly, our disabled and all passengers from devastating injuries and death just the same way as they do front seat passengers. And tell everyone about the neglected back seat passenger.

Rear Seat Lives Matter Too!

A tip aimed toward keeping your loved one safer is found here:

https://www.facebook.com/61557959780004/videos/305491639111438

C.M.

05/06/2024

COST OF THE BETTER FRONT SEATBELT VS.
COST OF THE LESSER REAR SEATBELT

UPDATE: My Honda dealer charges $919 retail for the front seatbelt replacement part and $338 for the rear. I imagine that manufacturers can negotiate much better pricing in the interests of protection us all. Clamor for rear seatbelts matching the quality of the front ones. Ask for them. Tell family and friends about the difference. Write to and lobby your US Congressman and Senators about it.
--------------------------
Only the automakers know what they can negotiate for seatbelt pricing in bulk. One replacement seatbelt website offers seatbelts between $75 and $115 each, depending on which one is selected.

When buying a new car in which you transport your loved ones, would you be willing to pay $45 more for a two-stage seatbelt with pretensioners and force limiters for the backseat?

Would you demand the safety of a better designed seat belt from automakers, insurance companies and government representatives?

Save a Life., it may be your own family member or close friend.

See posts below offering addresses where you might write for more awareness, attention and action from elected representatives and from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety.

05/05/2024

FAMILY GUY SATIRE & HUMOR MAKE A POINT VS. AUTOMAKERS

PARAPHRASED: I GUESS YOU ONLY OFFER LIFESAVING SEATBELTS TO FRONT SEAT PASSENGERS

Season 19, episode 08: Pawtucket Pat

05/05/2024

I SIT IN THE BACK SEAT. WHAT AM I, CHOPPED LIVER?

Don't look in the back seat for these types of protective devices: pretensioners and force limiters. Apparently, the rear seat is the red-headed stepchild of automobile seat belt safety.

This 2018 Toyota Canada video shows generally how pretensioners and force limiters work to protect those Toyota customers fortunate enough to be in the FRONT seat for a serious front end collision. BACK seat overlooked.

Front end airbags started as a "Driver only" option until the public outcry for installation on both sides of the front row, arguing that the surviving driver would come up from the airbag and say "Great, the manufacturer saved my life, only to turn to my loved one and find they've passed in the same accident for lack of the same safety device."

That's true today for the front passengers with the top rated seat belts vs. the rear ones with second rate ones. "Alive yes, but our rear seat passenger (child, spouse, parent, disabled person or other", have died in the same accident.

They weren't deserving of a seatbelt with load limiter and pretensioner?

Subscribe to Back Seat Safety: Rear Seatbelts and Injury

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0jqOOFs9-7o&t=2s

PS Being that chopped liver was always considered a side dish and not a main course, the phrase is used to express hurt and amazement when a person feels he has been overlooked and treated just like a "side dish."

Recent advancements have resulted in more sophisticated seatbelt technology that enhances occupant protection, while helping reduce injury from the system it...

05/04/2024

What does the back seat lack in seat belt technology?

Most automakers have devices called pretensioners and load-limiters for front-seat passengers, but they're rarely used in the backseat. Pretensioners are triggered by crash sensors, in the same way airbags are. When a crash is imminent, the seat belts pull tight, keeping the body taut against the seat so that the person doesn't come in contact with other parts of the car.

Load-limiters carefully spool out a little slack in the belt while the crash is happening so that the force applied to the body doesn't cause injury.

https://www.consumerreports.org/car-safety/iihs-research-shows-better-seat-belts-needed-for-backseats/?fbclid=IwZXh0bgNhZW0CMTEAAR14Sn_mYHAkhdOX73rZY94GpmqimFuJKmthcJIDBPrycHqtB-6maCM091I_aem_AcQbYeIuMtIvn3q5zo-XwVU_TEUitYDvVyH-YiFRpgaqOk_qF2tAE9MWlh5PwmctdmSVb7zBQggTHUL5LimYxzJd

Efforts to improve safety in backseats are about to get a boost from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety. Consumer Reports explains why better seat belts are needed for backseat passengers.

05/04/2024

REAR SEAT CAR SAFETY

Imagine the kind of world you want,
and then imagine what you are willing to do to achieve it.

Lobby auto manufacturers, insurance industry representatives and elected representatives for REAR SEAT AUTO SAFETY:

• Back seat belts designed = to the front--for all collision types
(no, they aren't as good, most don't know that)
• Front air bags for back seat passengers
(side curtain air bags are no protection in frontal crashes)
• Safer seat designs
(the front is emphasized, back forgotten)
• 100% of occupants to understand that back seat belts matter
(many don't, only a few states have rear seat belt laws)

04/25/2024

FOR DECADES, CAR COMPANIES FOUGHT THE SEATBELTS WE NOW TAKE FOR GRANTED: WILL THEY OPPOSE IMPROVEMENTS FOR THE REAR SEAT TO MAKE IT AS SAFE AS THE FRONT SEAT?

Elon musk gets to talk about car safety measures especially seat belts

04/25/2024

UBER AND LYFT ---
CAN I RIDE IN THE FRONT SEAT?

Yes, you can request to ride in the safest seat in any newer car: the front seat.

Ask the driver when your ride arrives or put it in the notes to give the driver time to clear the front seat of personal items before arrival.

Uber's policy:

Updating our no-front-seat policy

Riders are no longer required to sit in the back seat. However, to give drivers space, we ask that riders only use the front seat if it’s required because of the size of their group.

Lyft's Policy:

Riders and drivers are no longer required to keep the front seat empty.

04/24/2024

ALWAYS BE GRATEFUL FOR ANOTHER DAY
ONE DAY YOU WILL NOT BE ABLE TO