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Inadequately restrained cargo is a problem in a wide range of vehicles, from passenger cars to heavy trucks. In a crash, the force needed to restrain the cargo is many times the weight of the cargo itself. In a passenger vehicle this means that the barrier between the cargo and the occupants must be capable of preventing the cargo from entering the passenger compartment. In heavy trucks, cargo restraints are generally used to prevent the shifting of cargo that could affect the stability of the truck and to keep the cargo on, or in, the truck during normal driving maneuvers. A somewhat unique problem occurs in the armored security vehicle. These vehicles are often used to transport very heavy, dense, valuable cargo. More specifically, this cargo is often coin and/or boxes containing paper currency. In many cases this cargo, which may exceed 2268 kilograms (5000 pounds), is carried in the same compartment as personnel.

There are many factors that must be considered when designing a restraint system. The way the components function as a system and the design of the system's components are among these factors. While there are several tests required by the US Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards, not all factors are addressed. This paper will address the resistance of a seat belt buckle to accidental or inadvertent release. The test procedure deals with the design of the buckle only and does not consider other important factors such as placement or shielding. There have been numerous reports where occupants are found unrestrained following a crash even though evidence, such as witness statements, use and custom or clear physical findings, indicates the occupant was belted. It is believed by many that some of these cases are the result of inadvertent buckle release.

The Department of Defense (DOD) is making an effort to use advancements in the civilian/commercial world to further assist the U.S. Armed Forces. One area of technology transfer that may be readily used is in the area of occupant crash protection for wheeled vehicles. The U.S. Army uses a large fleet of wheeled light, medium and heavy trucks, many very similar to each other and to commercial vehicles. This study was undertaken to evaluate the occupant crash protection offered by the light trucks and determine the applicability of these technologies to the medium and heavy truck fleets.

This exploratory study investigated the effect of cognitive workload on manual lap belt usage in automatic restraint systems consisting of a passive motorized shoulder belt and a separate manual lap belt. Previous observational studies showed that, while these types of passive automatic restraint systems increased shoulder belt usage, occupants frequently did not engage the manual lap belt. This omission put the occupants at a significantly increased risk of injury in a crash. These studies also suggest that forgetfulness was one of the main reasons that occupants did not engage the manual lap belt. The objective of this study was to quantify manual lap belt usage with this type of automatic restraint system under varying cognitive workloads. Ten subjects participated in two testing sessions consisting of a low and high cognitive workload. During each test session, the subjects drove around a pre-defined course where they exited the vehicle at five locations to perform specific tasks.

This paper reviews seven motor vehicle crashes from the authors' files, in which a child occupant was using a booster-with-shield type child restraint and sustained serious injury.

This paper discusses the ongoing real-world effects on the wearers of restraint systems which are subject to a retractor's failure to lock in a timely manner. Investigation of the ELR performance using both detailed physical examination and inductive methods enables accurate assessment of successful ELR locking at the first opportunity in the crash sequence. Available methods to determine the reliability of the ELR's crash performance are considered and analyzed for assessment of reliability to enable adequate seat belt wearer protection. Corrective measures are analyzed to probe the feasibility of federal safety regulation amendments to mandate a reliability analysis on the propensity for the ELR's failure to lock in a timely manner.