Golf Cart Seatbelts
 

I read about golf cart fatalities and the last line is usually, "Victim was not wearing a seat belt."

Can anyone point me to an example where the driver or passenger of a golf cart involved in a serious accident were not injured because they were wearing a seat belt?

There probably would be no example since he (in your example) was wearing a seatbelt and wasn't killed. If there is no blood there is no news. :D

Just about any rollover accident when the driver/passenger was not ejected, and there are thousands of such accidents. A Case for Golf Cart Seat Belts in The Villages | Inside The Bubble

Yep.


And why would something that didn't happen, i.e. a non-injury because a seat belt kept an occupant from being thrown out on their head...ever make the news anyway? :oops:

I use my seat belt all the time. If nothing else, at least they'll find the body :). But, really, they can only help. Well most of the time. I saw a woman passenger with a child in her lap and the seat belt around both of them. Now think about physics, if the golf cart hits a curb, or someone hits them, the seat belt will stop the child, but the woman will keep going. What do you think will happen to that child?

Somewhat related....I see as many wearing as not.
Of those wearing they usually have the belt way above their belly button. Usual recommendation is to place the belt low across the hips to avoid organ injury.

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.

My only expectation is that the belt will mitigate some degree of trauma, when an incident occurs. In a golf cart , hitting a pot hole or curb can easily throw passengers out. Several deaths already attributed to this . In fact a sharp turn can send you flying.

I agree! I have a rear facing seat in the back of my cart. I think it would be malpractice for me to allow people riding there to not wear their seatbelts. If I had to make a sudden stop to avoid an accident, without belts they may well be thrown back into traffic, or the pavement.

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.

I use my seat belt so the cart will hit the ground first, I may also hit the ground but the golf cart won’t be coming down on top of me. I still could hit the curb with my head and die but, the odds are in my favor wearing seat belt. Odds are also I won’t roll out in to oncoming traffic and get killed by secondary accident surviving the first one.

Think about??? Was that long to get you to wear seatbelt?

YES! YES! YES!!! I have personal experience with this and only by the grace of God the injury to the passenger turned out to relatively minor after a visit to the ER. An instant of distraction can turn into a tragedy.

Good points for wearing a seat belt in golf carts found in this Nov. 2018 article from Inside the Bubble ->Dropbox - A-Case-for-Golf-Cart-Seat-Belts-in-The-Villages-Inside-The-Bubble (1).pdf

Like everything else in life, you play the odds. While wearing a seatbelt will not guarantee your safety, having one on will increase your odds of not getting seriously hurt (or worse). People buy lottery tickets with far worse odds.

I have been riding around in a golf cart eleven plus years. Sumter Landing was just filling up and the Village of Caroline was selling like “hot cakes”. My point: The last few years I find myself driving my car more and my golf cart less. It’s safer. Like the commercial says - - “I know a thing or two cause I’ve seen a thing or two”.

That said, we both still enjoy our golf carts and play golf two or three times a week. Golfwingnut’s Post (#7) explains a lot why seat belts are not mandatory. Great post.