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- Cabin Safety Options
-
- During a collision,
- a car rapidly
- changes direction
- and/or speed due to
- impact forces that
- may be several
- hundred times the
- force of gravity.
- Sometimes the car
- is brought to an
- abrupt stop, but
- the occupants
- continue moving in
- the original
- direction of
- travel. Without
- seat belts or
- airbags their
- movement will be
- stopped by the
- steering wheel, the
- dashboard or they
- will fly through
- the windshield, all
- of which will
- result in heavy
- injuries. As well,
- an occupant that
- braces against the
- impact may injure
- themselves more.
-
- Airbags, composed
- of steel-wire
- reinforced fabric,
- inflate when
- sensors detect a
- sudden decrease in
- speed. They
- cushion the driver
- against the force
- of the impact.
-
- Seat belts are
- designed to keep
- the occupant moving
- at the same speed
- as the car by
- spreading
- acceleration forces
- over a large area
- of the body. To be
- effective the seat
- belt should fit
- snugly across the
- pelvic bone and
- there should be no
- slack in the
- shoulder strap.
-
- -end-
-
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