Experience from the analysis of accidents with a high belt usage rate and aspects of continued increase in passenger safety.

The risk to the rear- seat passenger and the problem of interaction between belted front and unbelted rear- seat passengers are discussed, and possible improvements derived from real- live accidents are presented. On the basis of the injury characteristics in spite of fastened seat belts, proposals are made for further increasing vehicle safety. This paper discusses the experience obtained from accident research which resulted from the increase in the belt- wearing rate, now over 90% in Germany.