[JoMar]

Originally Posted by Goldwingnut

While I agree with the concept of seatbelts and increased safety for golf carts here in The Villages, the current implementations are, in my opinion, both lacking and dangerous.

In my working life I had dealings with the automotive interiors portion of the company I worked for, they designed and built the interiors for multiple brands (Ford, GM, Honda, Nissan, etc.). Millions of dollars were spent every year on safety research and development including active and passive restraint systems (seatbelts and air bags).

Much work is done on determining the location and sizing of the restraint systems, release system, mounting systems, as well as the overall interior volume and construction of the vehicle and how all of these are related to occupant safety and survivability. Thousand of hours of testing and retesting of these system were performed every year to ensure adequate strength, restraint, and survivability. Much of this is mandated by laws and safety regulations and in no small part by lawyers defending the manufacturers of these system.

So here we have in The Villages seatbelts being installed in to golf carts. Are they the correct size for the vehicle and seating arrangement? Are they mounted to a structure capable of and designed to absorb the kinetic energy to be experienced at a specific design of impact that would be experienced? Do they provide protection for front, rear, and side impact collisions? For a fall over or a roll over? Is the fastening hardware of proven strength for the intended usage? Based on personal observations of the seatbelts I've seen installed in golf carts in the last 4+ years, the answers to all of these questions appears to be, NO.

We've grown accustom to having to put on our seatbelts in a car and have a reasonable expectation of both performance and safety that they provide. The take away for all the comments I've read on this and the other website is that many people seem to have the same expectations for seatbelts being installed in their golf carts. The lack of engineering and design of what is being passed of as a safety feature in golf carts would, in my mind, clearly indicate that quite the opposite case is true.

I like the idea of additional safety features in a golf cart, the risks are real and in some cases fatal, but I don't believe what is being passed off currently is either adequate or safe. I believe in being safe, I ALWAYS wear my seatbelt in the car or truck, I ALWAYS wear a helmet when I ride my motorcycle (full face SNELL/DOT certified not the $5 salad bowl some people wear, if any), but when I get into my golf carts I feel more at risk and vulnerable than in/on any other vehicle.

There are no safety standards or regulations for seatbelts in golf carts that I could find, if established there will be additional costs passed along to the consumers to implement; justified but not easily accepted by buyers. At this point my golf cart's best safety feature is between my ears and driving safely, defensively, attentively, and in full control of my facilities (no booze or meds). The best thing I could say about the current seatbelts being installed is that they make finding the bodies easier.

While I understand your position I think it'a a bit naive. Your safety position assumes that you can control your entire driving environment....which you can't. I agree that the seat belts aren't going to be the salvation, if they help a little bit they are worth it. There are cart drivers out there that cross the center lines on the MMP's as they reach for their phone or their drink. That can (and does) happen before you can react. Ejection from any vehicle in an accident isn't safer than being restrained if it is a weakened restraint. When the medics arrive at accidents the injuries usually are a result of ejections. Nothing will help you when you have a car involved (which is where I agree with your defensive driving coments) but hitting curbs, other carts, speed bumps or getting off the paths is where a restraint can be helpful. To each his own, but I will not drive a cart without being in a belt.