Send to a friendScratch February 10th, 2008 10:39 AM Link
Fat people have built in airbags.
Obese Americans Less Likely to Buckle Up
Written By: Dustin P. Walsh
America’s increasingly overweight public is having trouble staying safe, as a new study shows that seatbelt use decreases as a person’s weight increases, according to the Associated Press.
Vanderbilt University psychologist David Schlundt studied the correlation between weight and seatbelt use after noticing obese people struggling to get buckled in. He said, “They really have a hard time getting that belt buckle over them. They have to stretch it out and then over and then some can’t see the buckle.”
Schlundt and his colleagues studied results of a U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention telephone survey of about 250,000 people, concerning seatbelt usage. The survey found that only about 70 percent of extremely obese people used a seatbelt.
(More details after the jump)
Federal standards on seatbelt length are over four decades old and only require automakers to make a belt long enough to accommodate a 215-pound person – who has a seated-hip circumference of 47-inches. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration estimated that 38 million people – or 19 percent of the U.S. population – were larger than the seatbelts.
Automakers like Ford, Chrysler LLC, GM, and Honda produce seatbelts much larger, usually 18-20 inches longer than the standards require. So, the NHTSA decided not to alter the requirement. However, many foreign brands do not have adequate seatbelt length and do not offer extenders.
+ Associated Press: Obese Less Likely to Use Seat Belts
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7 Comments
Greg February 10th, 2008 4:35 PM Link
That’s the price you pay for obesity. Can’t say I have much sympathy for them.
Though, ironically, I know an obese man who crashed his Corvette. He was so fat, the the steering was imprinted in his chest, and he’d've been dead had he not weighed about 300lbs.
More ironic, is that he now weighs about 180.
Russ Bellinis February 10th, 2008 4:39 PM Link
Because the American manufacturers build their cars with a seat belt that is longer than the minimum requirement, NHTSA doesn’t see the need to change the minimum requirement, but states typically can issue citations because a person who is too big to fit an inadequate seat belt is not wearing a seat belt? On the other hand, we have to pay extra for cars to be equipped with air bags, big bumpers and all the other “safety gear” that they can think of to mandate? How do you see daylight when your head is that far up your posterior?
Scratch February 10th, 2008 6:26 PM Link
Perhaps you should check the seat belt length BEFORE you buy the car.
Fat people should stick to buying American cars if it’s such a big problem.
KimbaSpeed February 11th, 2008 11:22 AM Link
Any automotive store carries seatbelt extenders. It’s a sad, fat society we live in.
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