The Safety Of A Rear Seat or Kinderseat In A W107

[t walgamuth]

yeah, we had a platform like that.

with eight kids you had to do something. no mini vans in the fifties and sixties. but there was a whole lot less traffic back then too.

tom w

[xkeots]

Originally Posted by t walgamuth

yeah, we had a platform like that.

with eight kids you had to do something. no mini vans in the fifties and sixties. but there was a whole lot less traffic back then too.

tom w

I have a 51 Pontiac 4 dr & a 54 Buick 4 door. I can sit in the back of either with my legs streched out and just about touch the front seat.
In the 450 SL there is no room for error.
So when talking apples to oranges please factor in the room of the rear, seat belts or not.
The rear of a 54 Buick is safer than the rear of a 450 SL with a non belted kinderseat.

Jack

[davestlouis]

I certainly don't want to start a fight here, but I might argue that a larger space would only give a body more space to accelerate vs the speed of the car in a sudden stop, and really SLAM the seat in front, as opposed to the enclosed space in the back of an SL, wherein the body in back may bounce around but wouldn't go far before it hit the seat in front. The small space may act like a cocoon, and not allow as much movement, almost like being belted, unless you get tossed out altogether, then all bets are off.

[AndrewinOZ]

[QUOTE=GermanMarque]

Originally Posted by xkeots

Hey Guys,
I am unaware of the vehicle Design Rules in the States, however as the 107 never had provision for lap sash belts, there are no original upper mounting points. Any modification to create an upper mount for the sash would in Australia require an engineers certificate that the modofication was initially sound, further an inspection to ensure the integrity of the modification by an Authorised Govt Transport Inspection point and modification plate affixed. The old days of drilling holes and fitting steel plates are gone. Australia is probably 10 years behind the US, so I'd say you've got this type of legislation or something similar, sorry to rain on your parade. But if it saves you drilling holes it's worth it.Brian280SL

Your right in using an engineer to locate the mounting points for a sash belt, but Australia isn't 10 yrs behind the US on auto safety. In the 70's while the US continued with the bigger is better car safety design, the MB car designers showed us the safety cell and crumple zone. While Australia was the first country in the world to make seatbelts compulsory on new cars. The US only adopted the compulsory use of motorbike helmets in the last 10 yrs. Once again thanks to MB and the fantastic design of the R107 as the first car with inertia seatbelts.

Andrew