Manycountrieshavepassedsafetylawsthatrequireseatbeltsinvehicles.Amodernthree-pointseatbeltalsocalledasafetybeltisaharnesstopreventthedriverorapassengerfromflyingforwardandhittinghardagainsttheinteriorofavehicleduringacollision.Amodernseatbeltwillhelptopositionyouproperlytogainmaximumbenefitfromyourcar’sairbagsthatwillinflate（使充气）duringacollision.Usingaseatbeltalsopreventsyoufrombeingejected(弹出)fromacarintothepathofoncomingtraffic.Researchshowsthatwhenyouwearamodernseatbeltyoureducetheriskofdeathorseriousinjuryby70%ormoreduringanautoaccident.

Seatbeltshaveexistedindifferentformssincetheearlydaysofautomobilesandtheyhavechangedfromasinglelapbelttothethree-pointseatbeltweusetoday.In1911thefirstairplaneseatbeltwasinstalled.Theninthe1920’stheywereusedinracecars.Bythe1930sagroupofAmericanphysicianscreatedlapbeltsfortheirownvehiclesandurgedvehiclemanufacturerstoprovideseatbeltsonallvehicles.

Dr.C.HunterSheldenmadeamajorcontributiontooursafetywithhisarticleintheNovember51955JournaloftheAmericanMedicalAssociation(JAMA).Hestronglyencouragedthemanufactureanduseofdoorlocksairbagsandretractable(伸缩式的)seatbeltsliketheonesweusetoday.Themodernthree-pointseatbeltincludingalapbeltandashoulderbeltwasintroducedasstandardequipmentonVolvocarsin1959.

In1970thestateofVictoriainAustraliamadethewearingofaseatbeltcompulsoryforeverycardriverandfront-seatpassenger.Todaymanycountrieshavealsomandated(授权)theuseoffive-pointsafetyharnessesforcarefullydesignedchildsafetyseatsthatcanprotectachildduringaseriouscaraccident.

AnairbagisaSupplementalRestraintSystemorSRSandconsistsofarapidlyinflatablerestraintcushionthatworkstogetherwithaseatbelttoprotectyouduringacollision.Moderncarsoftencontainseveralairbagsinvariouslocations.Sinceairbagscanonlyinflateonceandwillquicklydeflateaftertheinitialimpacttheywillnotprovideanyprotectionforyouduringasecondarycollision.

Theinflationofairbagcanprotectorhurtyou.Theriskzoneforadriver’sairbagisthefirst8centimetersfromitspr