User:Gianniducati

In the actual event, the occupant’s body had been prepositioned significantly to the  right  as  a  result  of  the  prior  impact  with  the  Thirty-Six  Car. Therefore, the  occupant’s  right  leg  moved  forward  and  rightward  from  a rightward  position  resulting  in  loading  against  the  leg  guard  displacing  it forward and to the right as shown in Figure 8. The hips transitioned forward and slightly rightward from a position already displaced to the right leading to an  asymmetric  load  on  the  lap  belt. This asymmetry  was  likely heightened  somewhat  by  the  driver’s  customary  habit  of  wrapping  the crotch strap around the front of the seat rather than through the slot in the seat. This configuration is demonstrated in Figure 9 showing an exemplar vehicle  and  restraint. The slot  would  have  tended  to  provide  a  centering force on the buckle which would not be present during the initial load with the crotch strap around the front of the seat. The net result would be to have an altered angle of pull on the left seat belt anchor from that which would normally be present. In addition, the severity and nature of the impact as previously described  would  result  in  a  significantly  higher  tension  being initially applied to the left belt webbing.