Restraint Systems Comparison in Frontal Crashes Using a Living Animal

Since the three point belt appeared, many improvements were searched. With the aim of estimating their efficiency, a comparative study, choosing a living subject - the baboon - has been carried out. The static three-point belt being the reference, the restraint systems were tested in frontal impacts at 14 m/s (50 km/h) and more.

Besides classical biomechanical criteria, the lesion finding and the baboon stress led us to the conclusion that: 1 - the pre-inflated belt gives the most favourable results, 2 - the load-limited belt is not easy to be adjusted, 3 - the pre-loaded belt has an efficiency much dependent on the crash detection and 4 - the automatic retractor belt shows a “film spool” effect that may be unfavourable. Moreover, this study gave indications on the biomechanical criteria credibility.