of a bag made of synthetic materials and an inflation device that inflates upon sensing a specified deceleration threshold (Kidd, 1989).
Passive restraint. A passive restraint is a device that does not require any effort on the automobile driverÆs or passengerÆs part to function (Spencer, 1991).
Seat belt. A seat belt, as the term will be used in the proposed study, is a passive restraint system of one of three types (Henry, 1988). The first type of passive seat belt is a motorized shoulder belt that rides a track above the driverÆs and passengerÆs doors, and moves into place as the doors are closed. An accompanying lap belt must be hooked manually. The second type of passive seat belt is connected to the automobile at three pointsùtwo points on the automobile door and a third point near the driverÆs and passengerÆs hips. The belt moves aside when the driver and passenger doors are opened, and swings into place when they are closed. Manual hooking of a lap b
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