Injury patterns of fatally impacted car front passengers in regard to the three-point seat belt and related occupant injury modes.

Post-mortems were performed on 117 victims who died in car crashes in the period from August 1, 1984 until July 31, 1986. This period was the initial two years of the seat belt law in the Federal Republic of Germany requiring front seat car passengers to wear safety belts by fining. The increased usage of safety belts from approximately 50% to about 94% was found to change injury patterns significantly.