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Honda Says "No" to
Seat Belts for Larger Passengers
July
29, 2000
Administrator
National Highway Traffic Safety Administration
400 Seventh Street, S.W.
Washington, D.C. 20590
Re: Support for Elizabeth Fisher's Petition for an amendment to SEC. 571.209
Standard No. 209, Seat Belt Assemblies.
Dear Administrator: I am writing in support of Elizabeth Fisher's petition to
amend 49CFR571.209.
When I was a new driver in the 1970's I was in a head-on collision with a truck
on an icy highway. My car was totaled, yet my husband and I walked away from
the crash shaken, but with no injuries. The seatbelt in my car wasn't long enough
to go around me, and a seatbelt extender was not available, so I had pieced
together the two halves of one of the unused lap belts from the rear seat of
the car and fashioned them into a homemade seatbelt extender. That jerry-rigged
device put together on my home sewing machine--which would probably have failed
any structural engineering test--saved my life and perhaps my husband's as well,
since it kept me in place in my vehicle during the crash.
If a homemade device like this can save lives, how much better must manufacturer-provided
seatbelt extenders be? I shouldn't have had to make my own seatbelt extender
to avoid being killed in an accident. Since that time, I have been able to obtain
seatbelt extenders for my last two cars--both by General Motors--from my dealer.
If General Motors and many other automobile manufacturers are able to provide
seat belt extenders for their customers, I fail to see why other car makers
cannot do the same. Your agency is charged with public safety on our highways.
As your ad campaign reminds us and my experience proves, seatbelts save lives.
This proposed amendment would give every American, not just those within a certain
range of sizes, the protection provided by seat belts. I urge you to adopt it.
Sincerely,
Karen W. Stimson,
Co-Director Largesse, the Network for Size Esteem