Samenvatting
This presentation shows how pretensioners can reduce injuries, giving a historical perspective from spring loaded systems to current pyrotechnic systems. Future developments using multi-cartridge and multi-piston systems and associated test results are discussed. Only crashes with real slack show the advantages of seat belt pretensioners. It is urgently necessary to revise the Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard (FMVSS) 208 regulation to reflect reality, because this regulation requires that crash dummies are belted with no slack.