The Traffic Accident Reconstruction Origin -ARnews-

Re: Seat Belt, Reclining seat, and rear collision

Bruno Schmidt (SchmidtBF@aol.com)
Wed, 1 Jan 1997 18:37:35 -0500 (EST)

Dick,

Being in a seat in the reclining position is clearly dangerous for either front
end or rear end collisions, the former producing a guillotine effect, the
latter causing rideup and either ejection or impact with the vehicle interior.
Many lawsuits have been triggered by a related phenomenon, where the seat back
fails and in effect becomes a reclining seat, even in fairly low speed rear
enders.

I thought that car manufacturers warn against riding in a reclined seat. That
warning is certainly found in owner's manuals, but not usually in a visible
place in the vehicle itself.

Bruno Schmidt
SchmidtBF@aol.com

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