By Randi Belisomo Ohio researchers say today’s seat belts weren’t designed to protect the smaller, frailer seniors who account for tens of millions of drivers in the U.S alone. “When seat belts were first designed four decades ago, safety dummies tested in car crash simulations resembled the average-size male driver of 40 years old and weighing approximately 170 pounds,” said John Bolte, an associate professor of health and rehabilitation sciences and director of Ohio State University’s Injury Biomechanics Research Center. This standard seat belt design can be less effective for older drivers, Bolte said, and cause fatal harm due to injuries sustained along the path of the belt.
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Down the road: better seatbelts for seniors