Preliminary Evaluation of Seat Back Locks for Two-Door Passenger Cars with Folding Front Seatbacks

摘要

Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard 207 specifies strength requirements for automotive seats and their attachment assemblies, so as to minimize the possibility of their failure by forces acting on them as a result of vehicle impact. The standard includes a requirement that front seats with folding seatbacks be equipped with a locking device, designed to limit the forward motion of the seatback in a collision and to keep the seatback away from front seat occupants. These seat back locks were installed in domestic two-door passenger cars during 1967-68. The objectives of this preliminary evaluation are to determine if seat back locks are effective in reducing deaths or injuries and to measure the actual cost of the locks. It was found that the locks hold seatbacks in place in crashes when the back seat is unoccupied, but locks or other seat components often separate at moderate crash speeds when there are unrestrained back seat occupants.