Where should the lap portion of a safety belt sit on your body?
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A.
Across the stomach, high on the waist
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B.
Across the hip bones Correct
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C.
Across the soft part of the abdomen
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D.
Loosely across the upper thighs
The answer is "Across the hip bones"
The lap belt must sit across the hip bones, where the pelvis takes crash force. Drivers who ride with the belt hiked onto the stomach for comfort are choosing the exact position the manual warns against, because the abdomen has no bone to spread the load.
The traps in the wrong answers
A. Across the stomach, high on the waist
The stomach is the exact spot the manual warns against for the lap belt. This answer chases comfort by pulling the belt up above the hips, which is what the fitting rule was written to stop.
C. Across the soft part of the abdomen
The soft abdomen is another position the manual explicitly forbids for the lap belt. This answer treats a slack, high belt as more comfortable without accounting for what a crash does to unprotected internal organs.
D. Loosely across the upper thighs
A loose belt on the thighs would slip in a crash and gives no anchor at the pelvis. This answer reads 'across the hips' as meaning the top of the legs, one anatomical step off from what the manual specifies.
This question tests your knowledge of Safety Belts & Restraints in Illinois. Source: Illinois Rules of the Road, "Safety Belt Fitting," p.23..
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