There are ten driving assistance systems (ADAS) that will be mandatory as of July 6 for newly approved vehicles in Europe. And among these assistants we find the belt warning in the rear seats. Two years later it will also be mandatory in all new cars that are registered.
According to a study by the European Parliament, the use of these ADAS will prevent up to 25,000 deaths and more than 140,000 serious injuries in Europe by 2040. It is one more step towards achieving zero deaths by 2050.
The seat belt is one of the inventions that has saved the most lives. Various reports speak of more than a million lives since 1958. Its use is mandatory in Spain in the front seats since 1974, and in the rear seats since 1992, but its use in the rear seats is not as common as in the front seats. For this reason, the European Parliament has approved the introduction of the seat belt warning in the rear seats as standard equipment, also known by the acronym SBR (Seat Belt warning in Rear seats). What is? How does it work?
What mission does the seat belt warning device have?
The seatbelt warning device in the front seats has been mandatory since 2014. Now it is the turn of the seatbelt warning device in the rear seats. Its function is to alert visually and with an audible signal when it detects that an occupant has not fastened the seatbelt once the vehicle has started moving.
There are already many manufacturers that include this SBR in their models on their own initiative, but from July it will be mandatory in new cars that are approved in Europe. The goal is to encourage its use.
The rear seat belt warning system detects if a seat is occupied by means of a load sensor in the seat. In addition, with a sensor on the belt buckle, it also knows if it is properly fastened. If the signal it receives from these sensors is that the rear seat belt is not being used, it emits an audible signal that increases if there is no reaction from the occupant who has to put it on. In this way, the driver will be able to control the correct use of the belt and choose to stop the vehicle until this restraint system is correctly fastened. In addition to the belt in the case of adults or children over 1.35 meters tall, the SBR also helps the driver to know if a child’s seat or child restraint system (CRS) is properly secured with said belt.
How does SBR work?
Surely you have noticed the fastened belt icon in the instrument panel, in green if it is occupied and properly fastened, or in red when it detects an occupant without using the belt.
In the event that the vehicle exceeds 25 km/h or travels a predetermined distance (usually 500 meters) without fastening the seat belt, the rear seat belt warning will start to emit a sound (which increases if you do not react) indicating by means of the icons in which seat it is not being used.
The risk of not wearing the rear seat belt
The SBR serves as a reminder to wear a seat belt and at the same time helps the driver to check that all occupants are fastened, which is essential for the safety of all passengers. According to data from the DGT, the belt reduces the probability of dying between 45 and 50% in the case of wearing it fastened in the front seats and 25% in the rear seats, but you also have to take into account this other reason to use rear seat belt:
Failure to wear a seat belt in the rear seats poses a great risk, as in a frontal impact, the probability of a rear seat occupant fatally striking another front seat passenger can be up to eight times higher. To give you an idea, if the seat belt is not fastened, the occupants in the rear of a vehicle traveling at 100 km/h would hit those in front with the weight equivalent to that of an elephant.
Why are people still not wearing seat belts?
In this link we tell you everything about the seat belt: who invented it, types, how it should be used, why it is important to use it, exceptions, fines…