Seatbelt position vs the female form

[fredgroves]

Mrs G has a problem when driving my car...the seatbelt rubs on her neck.

I've got the seat raised all the way up and the b pillar adjuster all the way down but it still rubs.

It doesn't sit like that on me - but I don't have "lady lumps" (or at least my moobs aren't quite so prominent!  )

A seatbelt extender (the plug end) might do the job but everything I'm reading suggests these are potentially dangerous in a crash - not actually having been crash tested as opposed to clearly dangerous by design.

Has anyone else come across this and got any ideas?

[CookieMonsterGTi]

Back in the day recaro (and other) seat belt pads used to be a thing.

Would this help maybe? Could possibly position near the shoulder to give some space away from the neck.

[MilgeS]

Just want to add that a few years ago my elderly neighbour had pads fitted on her seatbelt for comfort, unfortunately this prevented it from recoiling when she released it and she tripped on the belt and broke her neck. Isolated incident but just be careful !!

[fredgroves]

Thanks guys.

She used to have those retro sparco pads on her own car but they just stop the rubbing from the edge of the belt.

The real issue is the placement of the belt might well be sub optimal in a crash.

I did some Google and it seems like it's a really common female problem. Basically car safety equipment isn't actually designed for the. It's designed for a 70kg male.

You'd have thought that someone might have dealt with this...

[Watts]

What about a booster seat so your wife sits higher up?

[Adam T7]

Thanks guys.

She used to have those retro sparco pads on her own car but they just stop the rubbing from the edge of the belt.

The real issue is the placement of the belt might well be sub optimal in a crash.

I did some Google and it seems like it's a really common female problem. Basically car safety equipment isn't actually designed for the. It's designed for a 70kg male.

You'd have thought that someone might have dealt with this...

Not many blokes I know weigh 11 stone.

[SRGTD]

What about a booster seat so your wife sits higher up?

A booster cushion could well solve the seatbelt rubbing issue and it’s certainly worth trying. However, depending on the lady’s height, sitting on a booster cushion might create other issues - e.g. it might be more difficult to reach the foot pedals. Moving the seat forward to address that issue might then mean the distance from the steering wheel is less than ideal if the airbag was to be deployed in an accident.

@fredgroves; I don’t know if the guide at the link below would help. The guide is primarily aimed at finding the optimal seating position to minimise musculoskeletal issues. However, it might just mean that finding that optimal position eliminates the seatbelt rubbing issue. The ‘optimal seating position’ might feel a little strange at first and take time to get used to it, but at least it’s worth a try. 

https://www.physiomed.co.uk/uploads/guide/file/21/Physiomed_Sitting_Guide_-_Driving_Digital.pdf

[davo245]

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Just take off tension on the belt slightly

[fredgroves]

What about a booster seat so your wife sits higher up?

Yeah higher up might fix it.... because if the seat would go higher or the b piller adjuster go lower it might fix it.

Although whenever you look at any of the possible solutions (bolster cushions, seat belt clips, even the sparco belt covers) it always comes with the caveat that any of these will basically impede the function of the pre-tensioners or airbags and could basically mean in some way you get mangled/killed in a crash.

Its quite bad that this is a thing with cars...

Mrs G put a post on some girlie group on Facebook and she had hundreds of replies from other women saying this is a problem for them too...

[Yorkshire gti]

I have this problem occasionally and find pulling the belt out a few times and shifting position slightly stops it.
I’m an average size woman.