Do you check your seat belts regularly?
It sounds like a simple question but how regularly are you checking your seat belts in your vehicles? Weekly? After ever trip? Rarely? Never? It’s not uncommon for people to underestimate the importance of regular checking of these lifesaving mechanisms.
With seat belt laws coming into effect for drivers and front seat passengers in 1983 and the law being revised in 1991 to include all passengers within the vehicle, the law is not a recent legislation. However, some people still choose not to wear a seat belt and with the fact that not wearing a seat belt doubles the chance of a fatality when involved in a vehicle crash; it's important to remember seat belts really do save lives!
Here at Phoenix Seating we too take seat belt safety very seriously when developing each of our seating ranges. We pride ourselves on the intense levels of testing processes that our seating ranges go through in order to ensure a high level of safety. It is one reason why only our seat belts can be fitted to Phoenix seats.
Now may be the time to go and give your good old life-saver seat belts, (yes, all of them) a good inspection.
There are some obvious faults that you can easily identify by a quick inspection. Here we detail some of the major faults that can affect your seat belt’s effectiveness and ultimately fail on the safety scale that you can easily recognise.
5 essential quick safety checks
• Webbing – Check the webbing for any nicks, cuts, holes and fraying as this shows wear and could affect your seat belt effectiveness.
• Buckle – look for any signs of damage. Fasten the seat belt and pull to check it’s secure. Check the stalk for any loose connection to the vehicle.
• Retraction – this function should be a smooth retraction, any noticeable slowness, hesitation or delay to the retraction rate or jerking movements could indicate an issue. You should also test the seat belt by pulling on the belt suddenly and quickly – the retractor will lock if the belt is operating correctly.
• All ages adjuster – are you using this correctly? The adjuster should be positioned above your occupant’s shoulder height to ensure the best fit and should be adjusted for each passenger for maximum safety.
For occupants over 135cm (4’5”) in height, the slider must be at the top of the seat.
For smaller occupants whose shoulder is lower than the top of the seat when seated upright, the slider can be adjusted to a position below so that the belt rests across the MIDDLE of the shoulder.
The belt should only be pulled when the slider is in the upper most position – the slider can then be adjusted to suit the height of the occupant.
Explore more on the correct use and watch a brief demo video of using an all ages seat belt here
• Twisting – seat belts should not be twisted and can lead to further harm as on impact the belt takes all the stress in this twisted area rather than spreading the stress over the entire belt. Untwisting a seat belt is a quick and simple procedure although it can be a little tricky at first. Watch our video of the untwisting process below.
Remember if your seat belt has any of the above faults or has been stressed through impact of a crash, it is time to replace the belt to ensure the highest level of safety for you and your passengers.
Have a Phoenix seat that needs a replacement seat belt or seat belt buckle? Check out the accessories page. For any other passenger seating enquiries please contact our friendly team on 01384 296622 or This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Credit to Think.com for seat belt history
