NHTSA Adds Center Lap-Belt Rule
Shoulder and lap belts will be mandatory for rear center seats soon, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) said on Wednesday. By 2008, the car-safety agency will require all vehicles sold in the U.S. to have the three-point belts, which three-quarters of all new cars already have. However, Reuters reports, only about half of all pickups and sport-utes with rear center seats have three-point belts in the middle position. The new rule is staggered so that 80 percent of vehicles will be required to have three-point, rear-center belts by 2007, and all vehicles by 2008. The NHTSA figures the new rule will save as many as 23 lives each year and might prevent as many as 495 injuries each year.
P.S. - I always wondered why 3 Point Harnesses were not required for the center seat, where an back seat occupant has the higher chance of hitting the windshield than the other backseat occupants.