Five-point seat belt: device, fastening, principle of operation, purpose

One of the main criteria for choosing children's products is safety. It is important to remember this on the road, on a walk with a stroller and even sitting the child in the high chair for feeding. Care must be taken to select the child's remedies. Why is it worth paying attention to the five-point seat belt? At least because even in sports cars this driver protection is installed. After all, these belts allow you to evenly distribute the load when pulling and securely fix the body of a person in the chair.

Appointment

A five-point seat belt is a means of passive protection against the dangerous movement of a child on a trip by car, while walking in a stroller or while feeding on a special stool. Such seat belts are suitable for children up to 3-4 years old (car seats of 0, 0+ and 1+ groups are used), then they become small, and the baby car seat is fixed with usual car belts.

Device

The five-point seat belt consists of two shoulder straps, two foot straps and one strap that is between the legs. Hence the name comes. The lock for five-point seat belts always snaps securely, as children like to play with it and try to open it. Most shoulder straps are worn by additional softening pads to protect the neck of a small passenger from injury and rubbing.

In addition, it is not uncommon for a car seat belt lock to be equipped with a soft upholstery that will soften the pressure of the buckle on the belly or groin of the child. All soft pads can also be purchased separately, if they were not included in the kits of the children's goods. A five-point seat belt for a high chair and a stroller is often thinner and with a less sturdy lock than for a car seat.

Operating principle

The load of such belts in the event of a collision is distributed to the strongest parts of the child's body - shoulders, hip bones and pelvis. As is known, in the event of a collision, the human body is subject to inertia. In the case of three-point seat belts , it is difficult to guarantee reliable protection. That's why five-point seat belts are used for children, which completely fix the child's body and prevent him from slipping out of the child's car seat. Fixing of strong parts of the body allows to avoid serious injuries and consequences of the accident or sudden braking. It is important to remember that after an accident it is undesirable to use a car seat, it must be replaced with a new one.

Seat belts for the stroller can prevent the loss of an active kid during a walk. Fixing the child in the chair for feeding will give an opportunity to the person feeding him to briefly move away or distracted, not being afraid that the baby will slip out of high construction.

Mounting

In the child car seat, the fastening of five-point belts is quite simple - the shoulder straps pass through special holes in the chair and are fastened from the back of the back with a special metal or plastic hook. The leg straps also pass through the holes in the seat and are held in the hooks on the underside of the car seat. The tension strap, which passes between the legs of the child, passes under the armchair and is attached to one hook together with the shoulder straps. Each belt must be adjusted separately for the child, and do not forget about his clothes - in the autumn-winter period, it may be necessary to loosen the straps for the child to be comfortable.

Seat belts for the stroller and for the highchair can also be adjusted to the child by lengthening or shortening them, or by changing to thicker, soft or with a more reliable lock. The change of belt is the same as in the car.

Car seat: fastening and installation

In addition to properly adjusted seat belts, the child car seat must have a secure attachment in the car. It can be implemented in several ways:

• Full-time three-point seat belts;
• Isofix mount;
• Installation of an additional base for the car seat, which in turn is fixed with standard belts or Isofix fasteners.

Fastening with regular seat belts is a universal way of fixing the car seat. Despite the convenience, this method has its drawbacks - this procedure is somewhat complicated and inconvenient, besides there is a possibility of incorrect or insufficiently strong fixation of the chair. Sometimes in situations involving car seat groups 0 and 0+, regular belts may not be enough for its full girth. In this case, you need to replace the regular belts in the car showroom for longer, without engaging in self-extension of the length of the belt. Fixing the car seat and the child with regular seat belts is necessary for children over 3 years (from 18 kg), as not all car seats of the older groups have a five-point seat belt.

Isofix mount

This method was developed and standardized in Europe in the 90s and since then has been gaining popularity because of its simplicity and reliability. Car seat "Isofix" has the main advantage - in addition to five-point seat belts, it is securely fixed on the seat of the car.

The whole system is divided into two parts: car and chair. The car uses two metal brackets, which are installed at a standard distance of 280 mm from each other in the back of the rear seat at the passenger seats. Most often these places are marked with the inscription Isofix and sometimes the image of the child in the car seat. The car seat also has two rigid guides with a locking mechanism in the brackets.

This fastening is quite simple and allows you to reliably install the seat in the car without fear of error. After all, two characteristic clicks will make it clear that the fastening of the car seat is securely fixed. Recently, to fix the upper part and avoid dangerous tilt forward, the third fixing point has been used. It is also called the "anchor" belt. It is attached from the top of the back of the car seat to the bracket, which can be located on the rear shelf of the car, on the floor of the trunk or at any other rear of the cabin. The car seat "Isofiks" will approach any car on which points of fastening of system are established.

Alternative to five-point belts

In addition to five-point seat belts, there are holding tables-bumpers or buffer tables. Such a table is a soft pillow with plastic inserts, which is fixed with a regular seat belt across the child's body. This type of protection is freer and gives the child more freedom to act. It is believed that such protection is able to keep the child in the chair during the accident and not cause injury to him because of its softness and elasticity. However, according to the latest crash tests, it was found that such tables are not able to hold the child securely when turning the machine, and also do not have the ability to protect the upper body with a sudden inertial motion forward.

Advantages of five-point seat belts

Since any parent considers it necessary to take care of your child, it is important to understand that the safety of the baby should be trusted by proven and reliable means. The five-point seat belt has several advantages over belts of fewer fixation points:

• Correct distribution of the load on the strong parts of the child's body;
• Softening of the impact force in case of an accident due to reliable fixation in the car seat;
• Easy adjustment of belts to the size of the child;
• Soft and reliable holding of the active baby in the stroller and chair for feeding;
• The possibility of easy replacement of belts in any child's product.