[saket77]

Originally Posted by Rehaan

Auto-locking: [indent]If you tug at your seatbelt really fast, you'll notice that it locks in place and you can't pull it out any further. ...Virtually all front-seat seatbelts in modern cars behave this way.
cya
R

Absolutely. One can check if the locking retractors are working or not by briskly pulling out the seatbelts. Also, most manufacturers suggest to change the seatbelts in case the car is involved in a crash so as to keep the system reliable.
And not only front seat belts, in fact the rear seatbelts are also equipped with locking retractors on most cars.

[Accent Martin]

Originally Posted by Rehaan

Auto-locking:

If you tug at your seatbelt really fast, you'll notice that it locks in place and you can't pull it out any further. This mechanism is what locks the seatbelt in place during a collision, and doesn't let the passenger move too far forward (or slip out). If you pull the seat belt slowly (like when wearing it), it will not lock - and hence it might seem loose to you. In an accident (sudden pull on the seatbelt) it will lock in place - don't worry about that. Virtually all front-seat seatbelts in modern cars behave this way. For more technical details you can search for "Inertia Locking Retractor" or "Emergency Locking Retractor (ELR)".

Seatbelt Pre-tensioner:

This device senses when the car is in a collision and further tightens the already locked seat-belt. This is a good safety feature, but it is optional. It's rarely found on sub 20 lakh cars in India - though there are some exceptions.

Try out the auto-locking on your car and let me know.

cya
R

Rehaan, Thanks for this.
A thought that flashed my mind - I think its best for us to have a pair of scissors in our car within our reach. God forbid any crash; but in case it happens and seat belt does its job of tucking us back, then I guess the only way to get out is by cutting the seat belts.

[Rehaan]

Originally Posted by Accent Martin

Rehaan, Thanks for this.
A thought that flashed my mind - I think its best for us to have a pair of scissors in our car within our reach. God forbid any crash; but in case it happens and seat belt does its job of tucking us back, then I guess the only way to get out is by cutting the seat belts.

Personally, i really think the chances of a seat belt not unbuckling are soooo extremely low, that it's a non-issue.

There are however some specialized products that feed off this paranoia, as well as have some other advantages:

- The hammer point can be used for smashing windows
- The slot at the bottom has a recessed blade in there, so you can easily cut your seatbelt


Source

cya
R

[V.Narayan]

Dear BHP-ians, let me share a true incident of my business partner and seat belts - rear and front. He was driving at a rather high speed on a rainy night in Mumbai about 15 years ago and hit something (not going into the details irrelevant to the thread) hard and fast. His wife was in the front passenger seat with her seat belt on and she escaped without a scratch other than some minor muscle pull. He was driving and not wearing the seat belt and went flying out through the windscreen and was seriously injured in the head and face and still wears some scars. His adult daughter sitting at the rear (but with no seat belts) went flying into the front and ended up hitting the dashboard and gear lever with a force that injured her seriously too. Luckily no fatalities. Draw your own conclusions. Belt up always - short or long drive. Front or rear seat.

[Thad E Ginathom]

in modern cars with pretensioners

Isn't that another thing that gets left out of Indian cars? Maybe it is there on later models, but I don't think my Polo has them

[arun_josie]

Originally Posted by Thad E Ginathom

Isn't that another thing that gets left out of Indian cars? Maybe it is there on later models, but I don't think my Polo has them

Previous generation Dzire had it in the top end model. So I think maruti provides this in top end variant of all their cars.

[hajaar]

Originally Posted by IshaanIan

You might be right, however, proof of having worn a seatbelt during a crash can easily be provided atleast in modern cars with pretensioners. The mechanism used, fires a piston in the event of abrupt deceleration due to an accident, which rapidly drives the spool around which the seatbelt is wrapped, to entirely remove any slack and pull the bodies of the passengers firmly into their seats in an optimum position for airbag deployment. This can only be used once so if not activated and used, the seatbelt is normal and manufacturers as well as insurance companies will know that you did not wear the seatbelt.

To add on, I think my civic manual actually mentioned this i.e. that the airbags would deploy only if the corresponding seat-belts were put on. In addition, there is also the weight sensor on the seats which work in conjunction with the seat-belt being fastened.

[deetjohn]

Originally Posted by Thad E Ginathom

Isn't that another thing that gets left out of Indian cars? Maybe it is there on later models, but I don't think my Polo has them

Our Swift ZDi has pretensioners for both front seats.

I can see the same for the DZire in the webpage as well. But its not to be seen in the website for both Ciaz and face-lifted Swift. It will be a shame if MSIL is silently dropping pretensioners from the new cars.

[Santoshbhat]

Originally Posted by IshaanIan

You might be right, however, proof of having worn a seatbelt during a crash can easily be provided atleast in modern cars with pretensioners. The mechanism used, fires a piston in the event of abrupt deceleration due to an accident, which rapidly drives the spool around which the seatbelt is wrapped, to entirely remove any slack and pull the bodies of the passengers firmly into their seats in an optimum position for airbag deployment. This can only be used once so if not activated and used, the seatbelt is normal and manufacturers as well as insurance companies will know that you did not wear the seatbelt.

Well if the airbag failed to deploy on a frontal crash, what's the guarantee the pre-tensioners did not fail? If the manufacturers say I did not wear seatbelt upon looking at the pre-tensioners, my case will only get stronger as the airbags and the pretensioners failed to deploy. Surely the impact sensors failed to detect the crash.

[IshaanIan]

Originally Posted by Santoshbhat

Well if the airbag failed to deploy on a frontal crash, what's the guarantee the pre-tensioners did not fail? If the manufacturers say I did not wear seatbelt upon looking at the pre-tensioners, my case will only get stronger as the airbags and the pretensioners failed to deploy. Surely the impact sensors failed to detect the crash.

Just a terrible world we live in don't we Here's to hoping the new government will bring about some changes

[Ramon]

Originally Posted by Thad E Ginathom

Isn't that another thing that gets left out of Indian cars? Maybe it is there on later models, but I don't think my Polo has them

My A Star Zxi has it.

[Gannu_1]

Originally Posted by Thad E Ginathom

Isn't that another thing that gets left out of Indian cars? Maybe it is there on later models, but I don't think my Polo has them

I think the Polo does. The pretensioner unit is located behind the B-pillar trim at the bottom.

If the Polo did have models without the pretensioners, I am sure the workshop manual must have mentioned it under a separate link. I don't see any here:

Link

Originally Posted by deetjohn

But its not to be seen in the website for both Ciaz and face-lifted Swift.

For the Ciaz, they have mentioned it as:

Seat belt Pretensioners and force limiters

Maruti Suzuki: Ciaz

Couldn't find that on the Swift though.

[Thad E Ginathom]

Very interesting. That online workshop-manual site is a fantastic resource! It keeps nagging for a donation, but it is so good I might even give one

I think my Polo, bought in 2012, was manufactured in 2011, being a "last-year model bargain." I am not sure if it is Mk5?

We have gone off-topic here, but I wonder if mods would move this model-specific stuff to the VW Service dos and don't thread?

[RavSam]

As far as I know, the 'seat belts with pretensioners and load limiters' are in cars (and their variants) equipped with Air-bags.

No Air-bags = No seat belts with pretensioners and load limiters


Correct me if I am wrong.

[khoj]

Swift's Zxi versions have pretensioner equipped seatbelt. Don't think the lower versions do.

Originally Posted by Gannu_1

Couldn't find that on the Swift though.