I was rushed last time I posted, and just wanted to get that bit of info out...
I'm surprised nobody else has expounded on this subject, but I'm gonna go ahead and try.
"sigtauenus" said:
I was working on my motorhome for some friends to borrow, and while I had it apart to do some work on the freshwater water pump, which is located under a seat, I noticed that the seat belts were attached to a metal bracket which was about 3/8" diameter and that that bracket was screwed to the wood frame of the seat.
How cow Batman, seatbelts attached to wood in a vehicle?
As Dave pointed out, the laws regarding RVs are remarkably less stringent. I am willing to put forward the theory that people are reluctant to buy a vehicle they'll put their family members (especially kids) if said vehicle doesn't have seat belts. Despite not really being required to have any safety restraints, from a marketing perspective, having no belts make it look unsafe. So they need to put seat belts in to close the sale...but lacking any regulation or requirement, they most likely have no idea if those seatbelts will stay anchored in a severe crash. Indeed, one can argue those belts aren't there for a crash, they're there for comfort, for not being flung about the vehicle while it is en route.
This issue comes up again because in the past I've asked and read several discussions regarding seatbelts and child seats in the back of our cars. Most discussions involve welding or bolting heavy duty brackets to attach the seat belts and/or straps.
Do we as a group over engineer safety? (as if that's possible)
I think we try...here's why:
Most of us aren't mechanical/structural engineers. Fewer still have a specialty in automotive safety systems. Therefore we cannot accurately engineer a safety system so we're stuck with 2 choices: Go stronger than we think necessary, or risk going too weak.
Furthermore, unlike those engineers that specialize in automotive safety systems, we are HOPEFULLY unable to test our systems. We don't know if they'll work or not, because we're not going to strap a dummy into our cars and do an offset head-on accident with a modern vehicle. So without this test data, our only option is to err on the side of safety.
As has been said before, and I'll continue repeating it:
We drive these cars at the peril of the lives of ourselves and the occupants.
To a certain extent, this is true of all cars...but this is even moreso the case with a 45 year old tin-can-car.
Some people jump out of airplanes. Some people climb mountains. We choose (among other things) to drive old cars. The risk they bring is worth it for the joy they bring.
So my opinion is that the owner/builder of the car makes the choice on what he thinks is an acceptable level of risk, and he builds the car in accordance with that, and while we all should point out when we think someone's making a dangerous choice (like, say, Nick's Rollbar) but at the end of the day, it's your car, and you make the choices you're comfortable living with.
I'm not a mechanical engineer, so I'm wondering how you go about determining what size bracket would work ok for a child seat strap (like for using the newer LATCH system), or what means would be sufficient (bolt/washer sizes - welding) to attach that bracket to the floor/frame of the car.
For these, I would look at the technical Regs for LATCH, and at the requirements put out by auto-racing sanctioning bodies regarding bolts/washers/welding to follow their regulations. They're usually pretty detailed, and unfortunately, a lot of their rules are the results of people making dangerous or fatal mistakes in their designs.
I've considered installing a LATCH-style system in my car, but as my son ages and my car continues to sit, I suspect this is less and less worth investigation.
Stay safe,
Steve
