Dennis - happy to hear you are OK!
----- Original Message -----
From: "D&B Lambert" <blambert@socal.rr.com>
To: <triumphs@Autox.Team.Net>
Sent: Friday, November 12, 2004 11:48 PM
Subject: RE: Shoulder Belts -- TR3A
> All,
>
> Normally I would stay in lurk mode, but this is a subject which I have
> recently come to feel rather strongly about. This just my personal
> opinion, and I'm not trying to contradict anyone else's position on this
> sensitive subject, but here's my story:
>
> I have lap and shoulder belts in my TR3A, and this July they were
> unfortunately put to the test. As I was driving to work one morning,
> doing about 40 mph down a main city street, a pickup truck pulled out
> directly in front of me from a shopping center driveway. No time to
> implement any evasive maneuvers, no super fast "S" swerves like you see
> in the movies, no time to even turn enough to one side, no time to duck
> down; just time enough to hit the brakes less than a second before
> impact. I ended up "t-boning" the truck directly on the drivers door.
> It was enough of an impact to tip the truck onto its side, as well as
> doing considerable front end damage to my TR. I have a roll bar in the
> car (looks something like the one in the TRF glove box companion) which
> I installed expressly for shoulder belt anchoring. The instructions
> that came with the seatbelts said not to anchor the shoulder belt lower
> that a couple of inches below shoulder height. If you do, you risk
> severe spinal compression in the event of an accident like mine, since
> the belt will exert a violently downward force as your mass attempts to
> accelerate forward. I'm about 6' tall, and have the Moss seat springs
> (which cause you to sit about an inch or so higher than you do with the
> original springs) so I sit pretty high in the 3. The roll bar allows
> proper attachment height for the shoulder belt. I feel lucky to have
> suffered only bruises and a few cracked ribs from the encounter. I
> attribute my relative lack of injury to the lap and shoulder belt
> combination. Without the shoulder belts my face would have been
> hamburgerized by contact with the steering wheel and/or windshield. Put
> me down as a STRONG believer in shoulder belts. As far as adjustment, I
> wore mine as Andy suggests: a snug lap belt and a shoulder belt loose
> enough to allow some freedom of movement.
>
> I don't have a website, but if anyone wants to see the results of a 30
> mile per hour (or so) front impact on a TR3A, I can email you a picture.
> Lots of front end damage, frame damage, the rad was pushed into the
> engine, the sheet metal is rippled all the way down the left side to and
> including the rear fender, the right side damage just goes to the door.
>
> Dennis
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