Acceptance Tests of Various Upper Torso Restraints

摘要

The study demonstrates that people can be motivated to utilize and, in fact, eagerly accept the use of upper torso restraint equipment for the prevention of head and chest injuries induced by flailing during crash decelerations, provided that specific design criteria are followed by structural engineers. By giving attention in this study to design of specially constructed restraint equipment to incorporate the maximum in features for comfort, neatness of appearance, ease of stowage, and ease of donning and escape, it was found that over 90% of the test subjects utilized these upper torso restraint systems throughout the two-year test period. In contrast, only an estimated 3 to 5% utilization of the factory-installed torso restraint equipment in over 10,000,000 automobiles manufactured since 1 January 1968 has been attained to date. General aviation aircraft manufacturers should give careful consideration to these significant design criteria, along with incorporating inertia reels for ease of motion, before launching an extensive program for installation of upper torso restraint in light aircraft. (Author)