What is an ELR seatbelt?

Emergency Locking Retractor (ELR) allows a vehicle occupant to move freely while buckled in, but instantly locks in an emergency situation such as sudden halting of the vehicle or during a crash. An ELR seatbelt is equipped with an inertial reel that helps accomplish this. This inertial reel is webbing sensitive. Any movement on the seat belt strap will cause the retractor to lock instantly.

If two cars collide, each traveling at no more than 25km/hr., the inertial force on the occupants of the vehicle can be up to ten times the total body weight. A strong power-lifter can only take as much as three times their total body weight. As you can imagine, ten times the inertial force than what you are used to can literally knock you off your seat and send you hurling forward.

When you are about to crash, the ELR seatbelt mechanism senses the rise in inertia and locks instantly therefore keeping you securely positioned in your seat. This is one of the reasons we are always reminded to buckle up. If the vehicle occupants have not buckled in their safety belts and a crash occurs, the high inertia applied on the body can lead to horrible injuries in the body and sometimes, death.

Most vehicles are equipped with a three point ELR inertial reel seat belt. This means that once it’s fitted, it is attached at 3 points: the lower belt is attached to the seat belt rail or the floor and to the buckle of the safety belt. The shoulder belt goes downwards behind the plastic housing, then finally into the reel of the safety belt. Some ELR seatbelts have pretensioners with load limiters fitted. This provides more buy maxalt canada protection over a regular ELR seatbelt.

The seatbelt reel helps in tensioning the safety belt. On fast reel out, like in the case of an emergency, the safety belt has an emergency locking mechanism that tightly locks the belt.

Many vehicles allow users to make adjustments to seat inclination, height, safety belt height, height & reach of the steering wheel, etc. It’s important to adjust these features for the best achievable positioning. If drivers do this, they’ll find that it doesn’t take long and it also makes a huge impact on the effectiveness of a safety belt during a crash. What’s the use of driving while experiencing incredible discomfort?

When wearing a safety belt, pull the slack up in the bottom and allow the seatbelt reel to wind up the slack. Some drivers lock the ELR when driving just to add a little more security and stability. To do so, pull the belt tight and then pull quickly. You could also put your other hand under the safety belt and push outwards quickly. By doing this, you are pretensioning the belt on your own.

Seatbelts usually put force on the body. This force should be directed to bony structures like the ribcage and pelvis. Ensure your seat is kept upright and sit up to avoid submarining or sliding under your safety belt.

Safety on the roads starts with information. Now that you know what an ELR seatbelt is, consult your manufacturer and ask whether your vehicle seat belts have the ELR system installed.