seatbelt "stoppers"

[Sploosh]

I'm looking for a simple car accessory; one that blocks the seatbelt from automatically retracting the maximum. A few years ago my father bought one from a car shop at Marion, so I know the products are (or at least used to be) around. Unfortunately that shop at Marion is no longer there.

I guess I could use a safety pin if all else fails, but surely there must be a product available somewhere. Today I went to both repco and autobarn; salespeople at both seemed to think "Yep, should sell them, but...um..." when they tried to find them on their shelves, no luck. Any suggestions, good folks of this website?

[JAS]

Are these the sort of thing you mean???

Did a quick search of Ebay Australia and got these...

http://shop.ebay.com.au/items/_W0QQLHQ5 ... &_osacat=0

If nothing else might give you a manufacturers name to look for.

Regards
JAS

[Dog_ger]

Why...?

[Sploosh]

Are these the sort of thing you mean???

Did a quick search of Ebay Australia and got these...

http://shop.ebay.com.au/items/_W0QQLHQ5 ... &_osacat=0

If nothing else might give you a manufacturers name to look for.

Regards
JAS

They are EXACTLY the kind of thing I'm looking for. Thanks very much, JAS. Now, if only I could find them somewhere in a shop in Adelaide, rather than having to learn all about bidding for things on e-bay, a process that I've never done, and am reticent to start, unless a last resort.

[JAS]

glad it was helpful.

Sorry can't help with the Ebay thing...never used it either...I just threw "seat belt stopper" +australia into Yahoo Do you have any mates who use it and could bid for you if you give them the cash or maybe if you print off a picture of one and ask around some auto part shops.

Dog_ger don't see why they'd be a problem as long as the belt's braking thing still worked in an accident. I've been a passenger in cars where the belt has sat just below my throat and been very uncomfortable for the journey...and I ain't exactly short...so something to just stop the belt pulling back would have been great...probably loads of other reasons too.

Regards
JAS

[lesthemechanic]

:D glad it was helpful.

Sorry can't help with the Ebay thing...never used it either...I just threw "seat belt stopper" +australia into Yahoo Do you have any mates who use it and could bid for you if you give them the cash or maybe if you print off a picture of one and ask around some auto part shops.

Dog_ger don't see why they'd be a problem as long as the belt's braking thing still worked in an accident. I've been a passenger in cars where the belt has sat just below my throat and been very uncomfortable for the journey...and I ain't exactly short...so something to just stop the belt pulling back would have been great...probably loads of other reasons too.

Regards
JAS

Most seat belt pretensioners are in the buckle end of the belt( the anchor, buckle & stalk end )

[JAS]

:D glad it was helpful.

Sorry can't help with the Ebay thing...never used it either...I just threw "seat belt stopper" +australia into Yahoo Do you have any mates who use it and could bid for you if you give them the cash or maybe if you print off a picture of one and ask around some auto part shops.

Dog_ger don't see why they'd be a problem as long as the belt's braking thing still worked in an accident. I've been a passenger in cars where the belt has sat just below my throat and been very uncomfortable for the journey...and I ain't exactly short...so something to just stop the belt pulling back would have been great...probably loads of other reasons too.

Regards
JAS

Most seat belt pretensioners are in the buckle end of the belt( the anchor, buckle & stalk end )

Ah ok fair enough...I don't drive so probably referred to the wrong thing. I meant the long strap that you pull across from over your shoulder. I assume the strap is on a sort of roller in a housing and it locks solid if you try to pull too quickly* or if the driver brakes very suddenly.

Regards
JAS

[lesthemechanic]

:D glad it was helpful.

Sorry can't help with the Ebay thing...never used it either...I just threw "seat belt stopper" +australia into Yahoo Do you have any mates who use it and could bid for you if you give them the cash or maybe if you print off a picture of one and ask around some auto part shops.

Dog_ger don't see why they'd be a problem as long as the belt's braking thing still worked in an accident. I've been a passenger in cars where the belt has sat just below my throat and been very uncomfortable for the journey...and I ain't exactly short...so something to just stop the belt pulling back would have been great...probably loads of other reasons too.

Regards
JAS

Most seat belt pretensioners are in the buckle end of the belt( the anchor, buckle & stalk end )

Ah, Ok . I'm with you now JAS. Yes, the strap has a locking mechanism that keeps it taut. But, in the event of an accident, there are pretensioner mechanisms that pull the belt really tight, most of them located down the floor end. We have to be really careful removing them for any reason, if the spring releases it is possible to loose a few digits easily.

Ah ok fair enough...I don't drive so probably referred to the wrong thing. I meant the long strap that you pull across from over your shoulder. I assume the strap is on a sort of roller in a housing and it locks solid if you try to pull too quickly* or if the driver brakes very suddenly.

Regards
JAS

[JAS]

haha...confusion sorted. I thought that roller thing was all there was to seat belts anything else is rocket science territory to me.

In that case I'd say if Sploosh isn't an expert in these things then maybe he should consult one before fiddling around with anything like that. Although if those 'stoppers' did affect safety wouldn't they be illegal and banned or something by now.

Regards
JAS

[Sploosh]

No, there will definitely be no fiddling with any car parts, I was really just imagining something slightly more elegant than a big safety pin, to provide a few centimetres of 'slack'.

[Psyber]

The "slack" could however result in enough initial jolt to do in a collar bone or an upper rib in the event of an accident.
The belts are supposed to be firm at the start to prevent that, or any risk of you sliding sideways and your shoulder not staying under the belt on impact.

[therisingblues]

I thought this topic would somehow be related to the practice of Japanese police jumping out from behind obstructions to issue fines to people who aren't wearing seatbelts.
Maybe a little abstract but it was the first thing I thought of when I saw the topic, I then remembered that Sploosh had spent some time in Japan.
It is a fun thing to watch. A real life comedy. Hidden police, by radio inform other police further down the road when somebody not wearing a seat belt is approaching. The police then spring out from behind bridges, trees and anything else that provides cover to sort of surround the approaching vehicle, and cut off any escape. Then, about 4 times out of 10, the trapped vehicle attempts to drive around them all. The expressions on the faces of police and trapped driver is hilarious!