Safety Belts

Safety belts are what hold passengers inside the vehicle during a crash--therefore wearing your safety belt is one of the most important things you can do to keep yourself and others in your vehicle safe.

Diagram courtesy of General Motors

By wearing your safety belt, you not only protect yourself, you also protect other people inside the vehicle. Unrestrained passengers become projectiles in a crash and can hit other passengers (with thousands of pounds of force). Why would you secure your child in a car seat but leave yourself unrestrained, especially if you become a danger to him in a crash?

Lap-and-shoulder belts provide better upper body protection than do lap-only belts. The shoulder portion of the belt not only spreads the crash forces out over a larger area of your body, it also prevents your upper body from moving forward during the crash, which means you're less likely to hit your head against the dashboard, other seats, or even your own knees. Unfortunately, some vehicles still offer lap-only belts in the rear center position. Lap-only belts provide less protection than do lap-and-shoulder belts and also cannot be used with booster seats (which can impact carpooling arrangements). When purchasing a new vehicle, try to buy one with lap-and-shoulder belts in every position, so that everyone can ride safely no matter where they must sit in the vehicle.