SAFETY-BELTS
Occupants’ guideto wearing safety-belts

The benefits of buckling up safety-belts are clear. If you buckle up in the front seat ofa passenger car you can reduce your risk of a fatal injury by 45% (Kahane, 2015) andmoderate to critical injury by 50%. Fastening safety-belts helps you to stay in controlof your vehicle during when the unexpected occurs such as an abrupt deceleration.
This leaflet is designed to provide basic information on the importance of wearing
safety-belts. It contains an overview of why wearing safety-belts is extremely important and serves as a guide for vehicle occupants upon using properly safety-belts typeapproved according to UN Regulation No. 16.
UN Regulation No. 16 is the only widely internationally recognized requirement.
However, while other similar requirements may exist at a national or regional level,
this leaflet addresses safety-belts approved to UN Regulation No. 16 only. Though it isequally valid (except for the question of marking) for safety belts certified to equivalent national requirements.

1. Why wearing safety-belts?
Buckled occupants in the front-seats have a 45% reduced
risk of fatal injuries, as recognized by all road safety experts.
Safety-belts remain the best vehicle safety device to protect
you from being severely injured in a crash or being ejectedfrom the vehicle. Safety-belts type approved according to
UN Regulation No. 16 are tested under the most severe
conditions to endure ageing and work together with othersafety systems (e.g.: air-bags, pretensioners and load limiters)
as part of the complete vehicle crashworthiness.
Safety-belts are considered effective if they are anchored properly to the vehicle. Always
verify that height-adjusters are placed in a way that the diagonal belt does not touch yourneck and is passing over your shoulder properly.

Always wear safety-belts and make sure your passengers are wearing too.
In the event of a high-velocity impact, the unbelted rear passenger can turn into a deadly‘bullet’ fired at the driver or passenger in the front seats. That’s why UN Regulation No. 16
requires that safety-belts are supported by a “Safety-belt reminder”: a system dedicatedto alert the driver when any of the occupants do not use the safety-belt. The system isestablished by a detection of an unfastened safety-belt and by two levels of driver’s alert.

2. Am I legally obliged to wear safety-belts?
The answer is almost certainly YES. Nearly all countries have enacted legislation requiring
drivers and passengers to wear safety-belts, although laws differ from country to country.
The driver may be responsible for the use of safety belts by the passenger(s). The cause ofthe damage resulting from non-use of safety belts may therefore be attributable both tothe driver and to the passenger who is not properly buckled, since the driver’s responsible
for their use by the passenger as well. The driver should refuse to start the trip unlesseveryone is buckled up.

Use only safety-belts approved according to
UN Regulation No. 16 or certified to equivalent
national law.
Drivers or vehicle occupants should choose a vehicle equippedwith safety-belts being compliant with safety requirementsthat prescribe rigorous testing. Related regulations areadopted to ensure that safety-belts available on the market
protect occupants in an accident. UN Regulation No. 16 andits complementing UN Regulation No. 14 on safety-belt
anchorages, is one the most widely respected and used
regulation in the world, endorsed by almost 60 countries.

3. UN Regulation No. 16 requirements and tests for safety-belts
UN Regulation No. 16 defines the requirements an effective safety-belt must comply withand tests for their certification to keep safe any kind of occupant: adults, elderly people,women and pregnant women. Children wear safety-belts in association with their child
restraint systems such as booster seats. Some child restraint systems are designed towork with UN Regulation No. 16 type approved safety-belts. Always read the instruction
with the child restraint system to check if and how it uses the UN Regulation No. 16 typeapproved safety-belt.

4. How do I recognize UN Regulation No. 16 compliant safety-belt?
The safety-belt must carry the type approval mark on the buckle tongue. A type-approved
safety-belt shall display a capital E in a circle followed by a number that represents thecountry whose certified authority granted its approval. This is followed by a series ofnumbers and letters representing specifics of the type approval, approval number andproduction serial number.

Type-approved safety-belts can be easily identified by their label.
Type approval markings are placed on the attachment
shank, or with a tag or on the buckle tongue:
e.g. buckle tongue:
E = UN Regulation No. 16 certified by 1 = German
authority;
06 1869 = UN Regulation No. 16+06 series ofamendments+ Approval Number 1869 issued in Germany
ZAer4mp = The belt bearing the above approvalmark is part of a restraint system (“Z”) is a three-point
belt (“A”) type 4 with a multiple-sensitivity (“m”) withpretensioner (“p”)
This safety-belt must be fitted to a vehicle equippedwith an airbag in the given seating position.

5. Facts and myths about safety-belt use
Myth: Safety-belts hamper occupants to evacuate passenger compartment after a crash
Fact: Being buckled up during a crash helps keep you safe and secure inside yourvehicle; being completely ejected from a vehicle is almost always deadly.

Myth: Air bags are enough to protect occupants
Fact: Only the teamwork of the seat belt together with an airbag provides the protection, the restraint system is developed for. Both systems independently from eachother can only provide a part of the job, which is essential to be protected and finallyto survive a severe impact.

Myth: Safety-belts are dangerous for pregnant women and the baby
Fact: Safety-belts are unharmful to the fetus, on the contrary, they considerably
reduce the risks in the event of an accident. The airbag alone is not enough, but thecombined action of the two safety systems can reduce the danger to the mother andthe baby she is carrying.

Myth: Safety-belts break bones of elderly people during sudden deceleration
Fact: Most of vehicles provide load-limiters devices on their safety-belt systems. It isa device which is incorporated in the retractor and reduces the tension of the strap
automatically on chest, shoulder and neck of vehicle occupants during an impact.
UN Regulation No. 94 tests biomechanical criteria during a front crash test, wherethe dummies wear the seatbelts, in order to reduce or eliminate fractures to elderly
occupants.

Myth: Wearing safety-belts under the arm or travelling in a reclined seat is comfortable
and safe
Fact: Such behaviour in case of crashes or sudden deceleration when traveling at 50km/h may cause injuries to the liver, spleen and abdomen and then lead to death orserious disabilities.

Myth: Children may wear safety belts instead of a child restraint system
Fact: Safety belts are designed to restrain adult occupants and do not necessarily accommodate children’s anatomy, which would likely to lead to serious or fatal injuries.
It is essential to use approved child restraint systems to protect them.
UNECE and its Inland Transport Committee have always worked hard to ensure thatyou and those you care about are kept safe on the road. The vehicle regulations developed and administered by the World Forum for Harmonization of Vehicle Regulations(WP.29) encompass everything conceivable about road vehicles, from the quality of
the helmet that you wear to controls on levels of emissions.

Inland Transport Committee (ITC)
United Nations platform for Inland Transport
Designed and Printed at United Nations, Geneva – 2016030 (E) – December 2020 – 2,000 – ECE/TRANS/NONE/2020/2