Information About Dealer-Installed Rear-Seat Lap/Shoulder Belt Kits
The following information may be useful in responding to inquiries from customers about rear-seat lap/shoulder belts. Any media inquiries on this subject should be referred to Jane Mott, GM Public Relations, (313) 986-5717Rear-seat shoulder belts have been available as either factory-installed options or dealer accessories sinnce the late 1960s. At that time, studies showed that more people would wear lap belts than lap/shoulder belts, and so GM made both systems available to accommodate the different needs of our customers. New information on the effectiveness of rear-seat lap/shoulder belts, increased consumer acceptance of safety belts, and increased use of safety belts in rear seats (especially in states with mandatory seat belt laws) have led GM to make rear-seat lap/shoulder belts standard equipment.
Q. How long has GM offered rear-seat lap/shoulder belts as standard equipment?
A. GM began to include rear-seat lap/shoulder safety belts as standard equipment on selected 1987 models. Rear-seat lap/shoulder belts will be standard on all domestically produced GM cars by the start of the 1989 model year. We are phasing them in on domestic trucks and vans as soon as technology permits.
Q. Which current models have rear-seat lap/shoulder belts as standard equipment?
A. Buick LeSabre and Riviera; Cadillac Eldorado, Fleetwood Brougham, and Seville; Chevrolet Corsica, Beretta, Nova, Suburban (second seat), full-size van and full-size pickup; Oldsmobile Delta 88 and Toronado; Pontiac Bonneville and LeMans; GMC Sierra and full-size van.
Q. What about models that don't come equipped with rear-seat lap/shoulder belts?
A. GM dealers offer more than 90 different retrofit kits for 20 different body styles and over 50 models of GM cars, trucks and vans, some as far back as model year 1976. Owners of most late model vehicles may have a choice of as many as eleven colors, but older models can only be retrofitted with black belts.
The Chevrolet Sprint and Spectrum which are imported from Japan, do not have dealer-installed kits available. Also, there are no dealer-installed kits available or planned for the 1978-87 G-cars (Oldsmobile Cutlass, Buick Regal, Chevrolet Monte Carlo, Pontiac Grand Prix).
Q. Why don't you sell dealer-installed kits for the G-cars?
A. Our engineers concluded that for rear seat occupants in these vehicles the benefit from a lap/shoulder belt would not be greater than that of the lap belt alone.
Q. What has GM done to inform dealers about the kits?
A. GM advised dealers about the new seat belt kits when they first became available in 1986, advertised the kits in the GM Parts Accessory Collection Catalog, and sent an information bulletin to all GM dealers in May 1988 (IB 88-68, copy attached) to further familiarize them with availability and ordering procedures for the belts.
Q. Where are the kits listed in the parts catalog?
A. If a vehicle was not originally equipped with rear-seat lap/shoulder belts, the part number of its retrofit kit will appear in the accessories section of the parts book, in Group 21.040. For such vehicles, the belts described as "service belts" in Group 14.875 are only lap belts, designed to replace the belts that originally came on the vehicle. (If the vehicle had rear-seat lap/shoulder belts as original equipment, then there is no dealer-installed kit, because the regular service belts that appear in Group 14.875 of the parts catalog are lap/shoulder belts.) For convenience, the dealer-installed kits also are advertised and listed in the GM Parts Accessory Collection catalog, in the section called "Dealer Installed Accessories."
Q. What does a kit include?
A. Most kits include a right and left outboard lap/shoulder belt, and some include an additional belt for the middle seating position for color coordination. All kits include buckles, installation instructions And attachment hardware..
Q. How much does a dealer-installed kit cost?
A. The prices varies between $70 and $99, depending on the model, plus installation.
Q. How much does installation cost?
A. The dealer determines the installation cost, and it varies by dealer, model, and area of the country. GM estimates that installation of a kit would take from 1-1/2 to 3 hours. The average labor rate, nationally, is between $30-40 per hour.
Q. What is GM's response to recently-televised claims by the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) about the potential danger of lap-only belts?
A. The studies NTSB cites from the 1950s involved front seats and were not relevant to this issue. The NTSB's own, more recent study focused on a few exceptional cases, and by the Board's own admission was not statistically significant. Moreover, the NTSB's report was limited to frontal collisions, so the benefits of lap belts in other kinds of accidents were not analyzed.
No restraint system can guarantee immunity from injury. In very severe crashes, injury can occur from whatever stops the occupant, including any type of restraint. On the other hand, it has been shown that when properly worn, seat belts--including lap belts--improve overall occupant survival and injury rates, We continue to recommend that passengers wear their seat belts.