| By September 1 this year, the US Department of | | | | car. The ergonomic design of the Saturn center |
| Transportation said, the rear and center seats of all | | | | shoulder seatbelt allows the safety harness to be |
| vehicles will have to be equipped with a safety | | | | placed low on the passenger's hipbones, so that the |
| seatbelt. Cars like the General Motor's Saturn line that | | | | belt loads will be taken by the strong skeleton of the |
| have front-facing rear and center seats, are required | | | | human body. If a safety belt is improperly positioned on |
| to fit in a Type-2 integral lap-and-shoulder safety | | | | your abdomen, it can cause internal injuries. If it is |
| seatbelt. The transportation department order, | | | | positioned on one's thighs, rather than the hipbones, the |
| proposed in September 2005, asked auto | | | | seatbelt cannot effectively limit the body's forward |
| manufacturers that same year to begin equipping their | | | | motion. |
| cars in production with a rear and center seatbelt. For | | | | Because the lower end of the Saturn center shoulder |
| older Saturn and other makes that were rolled out of | | | | seatbelt is usually fastened to the safety belt buckle |
| the assembly plant prior to the order, car owners can | | | | called the buckle insert, the buckle seatbelt is positioned |
| get their Saturn seatbelt in the aftermarket segment of | | | | on the side of the passenger's hip. This differs from |
| the automotive industry. | | | | the central location of the buckle common on most |
| A Type-2 Saturn shoulder seatbelt is a lap-and-sash | | | | safety seatbelt. When the safety buckle of the Saturn |
| safety belt built in one continuous webbing. The | | | | center shoulder seatbelt is tightened on the hips, the |
| harness on the lap and shoulders of the Saturn center | | | | belt makes an angle of about 55 degrees with the |
| seatbelt helps spread out the energy of the moving | | | | centerline of the car cabin. Together with the |
| body over the chest, pelvis, and shoulders. Tests have | | | | webclamps and pretensioners that rein in the Saturn |
| shown that in an impact the body keeps moving until | | | | seatbelt, this operating angle allows the seatbelt to |
| the slack is taken out of the restraint. But then the | | | | resist the upward pull of the shoulder belts, reducing |
| body must be abruptly stopped to "catch up" with the | | | | the risk of internal injury to the passengers. |