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seat belts
https://slantsix.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=44837		 Page 2 of 2
Author:  ValiantBoyWonder [ Tue May 17, 2011 8:51 pm ]
Post subject: 
fmvss 209 - seat belt assemblies
and
fmvss 302 - flammability of interior materials

the belts are only available in black, and for the same price, it would probably be better to get them from wesco (color variety). wesco also offers a drop down belt as well

dan, you're a cool guy man. i dig the way you research.
Author:  SlantSixDan [ Tue May 17, 2011 10:28 pm ]
Post subject: 
Quote:
fmvss 209 - seat belt assemblies
and
fmvss 302 - flammability of interior materials
Great, that's a good start, but I need more than that. This is not a safety restraints company we're talking about, it's a boutique car builder. Therefore it's not reasonable to assume they know what the heck they're doing with regard to seat belts, and since the FMVSS regulations work on a self-certification basis (the maker says "we promise they meet the standard" and there's no verification done until there's a pile of dead bodies suggesting it ought to be done) I need a heck of a lot more assurance than "they meet FMVSS 209 and 302" before I am considering these belts equal to the ECE-approved items I linked earlier. I take stuff like this very seriously because I see the enormous amount of halfassery, corner-cutting, and outright cheating that goes into products manufacturer-certified as complying with other FMVSSs, and I have no reason to believe 209 and 302 are any different.

It's a slack system we've got, this self-certification nonsense. It worked OK when pretty much the entire American car and part industry was self-contained in the US, and it still worked OK when the Europeans started sending cars here because their own safety regulation system is generally more stringent, and it still worked OK when the Japanese came, because they got most of their (old) safety standards from us (now they use the European ones), and it worked OK when the Koreans came for the same reason, but now the Chinese are coming. Now the Indians are coming. These are countries with no cultural history or appreciation for meaningful compliance with safety standards of the type we're talking about. In general, "Yeah, we promise the car or part meets the standard" means absolutely nothing to them. There will be piles of dead bodies and twisted metal before it occurs to someone that "oh, shît, I guess our system isn't adequate any more". In the Society of Automotive Engineers Lighting Committee, we are working very busily to rewrite each and every lighting standard because for years they've assumed a basic knowledge of what differentiates good from bad, a basic desire to build a good and durable and safe product, and a basic desire to comply with the safety regs. Those assumptions are no longer valid, and we're already seeing components built to comply with the letter but not the intent of the standards (and the Indian or Chinese maker saying "Show us where it says this isn't OK") so we are working to spell out in words of half a syllable what is and isn't OK.

It's going to get worse before it gets better. That's what I see every day, and that's why a boutique car builder's "Yeah, it meets FMVSS 209 and 302" just plain isn't good enough. They need to cough up a test report or the name of whatever actual seat belt company is making these for them.
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