Deadly accident in boise today

[rjewkes]

Just the factory belt would have kept his bottom glued to the seat and hopefully the seat to the floor good enough to survive.

[rjewkes]

Makes me want to go out and put the fourth bolt in my seat. Never leave a seat unbolted. or leave the seat belts out. Taping the third point and adding the third point belt is on the list now.

[fireguywtc]

Just the factory belt would have kept his bottom glued to the seat and hopefully the seat to the floor good enough to survive.

maybe, but not necessarily. That was a high energy impact and a lap belt does very little for that. imo lap belts really only help out the most in roll overs, other types of accidents the efficacy is minimal at best when compared to shoulder type restraints.

[Wes]

Do you think the extensions on the shoulder part are necessary for a Bumpside?

this is what I have heard, that the shoulder belt should come over the shoulder at @ 90 degree angle. extensions would depend on how tall you are.

[Alvin in AZ]

Makes me want to go out and put the fourth bolt in my seat.
Never leave a seat unbolted. or leave the seat belts out.
Taping the third point and adding the third point belt is on the list now.

Way back, here's how I did it on my Dent...
http://www.panix.com/~alvinj/file12/seatnut.jpg
That's the usual Ford 3/8 inch "U-nut" with the clip cut off.

I aways wear a seat belt and like the way it holds my skinny butt in the seat! LOL :)
...and don't like the "newer" (started in about '76 LOL;) loose-type for that reason.

Alvin in AZ
ps- hadn't read the thread yet

[haminator]

I know people who are too lazy to bolt their seat back in after removing it. If that seat wasn't bolted in, that is what probibly killed him, getting cruched from the seat. It looks like a bad deal, the media may try to blame tha Caddy's injuries or death on the "old truck".

[averagef250]

67-77 highboys are still really common daily driven trucks around here. I've seen several of them go through wrecks, one appeared worse than this, but the driver of the truck walked away in every case seatbelt or not. Heck, I've taken a power pole at 40 MPH dead on in a 77 F-250 4x4 no seatbelt. 40MPH to zero instantly, the 351M waterpump stopped the pole. My best friend still has the truck and you wouldn't know it was wrecked other than the dash is still crumpled to the firewall from my knees.

The reason why I wrote this is because I realized this guy who sadly died in this wreck with the caddy was driving a stock height truck and everyone I know who drives one of these things daily has 35" and larger tires on it. All the ones I've seen wrecked have been lifted. If this guy had a lift and 35's his truck would've gone over the hood of the caddy and the news would probably be much different. As it were, that big bumper met the caddy engine block and stopped the truck a lot faster than if the bumper rode the hood up and took the roof off the car.

I also agree lap belt or no belt wouldn't make much difference in a case like this. Shoulder belt would save you though.

[R.Smith]

I've been looking around for a suitable later model belt myself. The dents I've seen have a huge, bulky retractor that mounts where the bumps 3rd hole is but my neighbors 91 f150 has a single bolt mount like the bump with the retractor down in the cab corner. Anybody ever tried using the belts from a late 80's-early 90's truck?

[Alvin in AZ]

I also agree lap belt or no belt wouldn't make much difference in a case like this.
Shoulder belt would save you though.

x2. :)
Read that way back before shoulder straps were standard equipment. :)

At the time, Sweden had ran a study and concluded a seat beat alone was a 49 to 51 chance a
seat belt alone would do nothing. :) "seat belts will save you" was being broadcast far and wide
in the US tho. Later in the US, they didn't have any trouble telling you how bad the "automatic
shoulder strap in the door" was when the seat belt wasn't used with it tho. At least that was
something. ;)

"taking everybody's nail clippers away when you board a plane will save you" is what we've got
going on now. LOL :)

I wear a seat belt and -like- the way it holds my butt in the seat! :) YMMV

Alvin in AZ

[westernkansas]

ok i will need to check into shoulder straps. mainly because when i am in the truck either my son or daughter is with me, sometimes both, sometimes even both kids and wife. I would like to find a way to hook up a shoulder strap for the middle passenger in a booster seat if anyone have any suggestions i would greatly appreciate it

[robroy]

Good day!

I just thought I'd y'all know that I'm documenting the installation of Beam's 140" retractable seat belts from SeatBeltPros.com here: May I ask for advice on BEAMS 140" WSCH300 seat beats?

I remember that there are already one or two excellent threads that cover the installing of these types of belts, yet I figured one more would not hurt!

Robroy

[socalcraigster]

Newer cars (like that Caddie) are designed to crumple in an accident. So I am not surprised by the amount of damage it sustained. Unlike the truck, most of the shock was absorbed in the front, not transferred to Caddie's driver.

It appears from that video the truck's seat was not stock (it looked like a bucket seat). Who knows whether he installed it properly/completely. The reporter said the seat collapsed against the truck's driver on impact. The steering wheel (looked original) was also damaged. Maybe shoulder belts could have prevented/reduced the severity, but I do not think we will ever know.

If one decides to install lap belts, make sure they are done properly. Otherwise, they could fail and maybe even cause more injury than without them.

The Caddie drvier was probably texting.

[angliagt]

I probably need these too,especially with our 5 year old
Granddaughter.
Thank you for posting this.

- Doug

[FLASH 1]

I feel bad about the accident, especially when a death is involved,, since I have been on the road since 1973 in all different trucks and seen many wrecks but has never and will never change my opinion which as follows, I do not wear seat belts period do not believe in them unless in some one elses car and for this reason when its your time its your time whether your in a complete air bag case, hiding in the closet or whatever the case be , Now all ask yourself if you buckle up and then decide to hit a train or semi head on do you really think that seat belt is going to save you NOT.. what makes me a expert nothing but I CAN SAY My dad was killed in a cabover semi-truck, I was there seatbelts or not was not going to save us running smack into a truck parked in the LH Lane with not a single sign saying LH Lane was closed in Construction back in the early 70's, BUT as saying that I do want to say thats its great that you can take every precaution on seat belt installation and putting all the safety you can in these trucks mostly with the way other drivers drive... When running a salvage yard I have cut many people out of seat belts due to failure,, Sorry just my opinion and the states are on a band wagon knowing they can generate money for seat belts and not to get the man upstairs involved but show me where the state thinks they are the man upstairs.. lot more people than you can imagine feel the same way,,, ANYWAY back to the original post I Feel bad about the loved ones he left behind...