# Car occupants through windscreen - possible?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/car-occupants-through-windscreen-possible/531255>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [March 4, 2010, 7:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/car-occupants-through-windscreen-possible/531255 "2010-03-04T07:28:49Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 5\
**Page:** 2

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**Author:** ![Zsofia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/7bcc69/32.png) [@Zsofia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zsofia)\
**Post date:** [March 4, 2010, 8:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/car-occupants-through-windscreen-possible/531255/21 "2010-03-04T20:00:01Z")

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> [@Swallowed\_My\_Cellphone](#):
>
> What is “wearing your seatbelt wrong?” I knew a girl who used to move the shoulder strap under her arm so it wasn’t restraining her shoulder at all, but with the lap belt she still would have been keep it the vehicle. How wrong was your classmate wearing her belt?

Some people put the shoulder part behind their backs. Just a lap belt won’t always keep you from leaving the vehicle at high velocity.

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**Author:** ![Swallowed\_My\_Cellphone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9d8465/32.png) [@Swallowed\_My\_Cellphone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Swallowed_My_Cellphone)\
**Post date:** [March 4, 2010, 8:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/car-occupants-through-windscreen-possible/531255/22 "2010-03-04T20:05:55Z")

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> [@Zsofia](#):
>
> Some people put the shoulder part behind their backs. Just a lap belt won’t always keep you from leaving the vehicle at high velocity.

Oh, so the shoulder strap wasn’t across her body at all. Gotcha. The variation I’ve seen still went across her body and under her armpit, so still quite stupid, but possible _slightly_ more secure than what you describe.

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**Author:** ![billfish678](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7bcc69/32.png) [@billfish678](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/billfish678)\
**Post date:** [March 4, 2010, 8:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/car-occupants-through-windscreen-possible/531255/23 "2010-03-04T20:07:48Z")

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> [@yoyodyne](#):
>
> A windshield when hit from the outside is forced into its frame, and it needs to be penetrated for something to get into the car. When hit from the inside it’s being pulled out of the frame, and someone can break the glass and force the entire windshield to come off without penetrating the laminate.

Good point.

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**Author:** ![anson2995](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c77e96/32.png) [@anson2995](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/anson2995)\
**Post date:** [March 4, 2010, 8:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/car-occupants-through-windscreen-possible/531255/24 "2010-03-04T20:59:39Z")

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> [@yoyodyne](#):
>
> A windshield when hit from the outside is forced into its frame, and it needs to be penetrated for something to get into the car. When hit from the inside it’s being pulled out of the frame, and someone can break the glass and force the entire windshield to come off without penetrating the laminate.

In other words, you don’t literally go _through_ the window, but the force of impact causes the windshield to detach from the car in one piece.

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**Author:** ![Saint\_Cad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saint_cad/32/18907_2.png) [@Saint\_Cad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saint_Cad)\
**Post date:** [March 4, 2010, 11:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/car-occupants-through-windscreen-possible/531255/25 "2010-03-04T23:49:00Z")

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> [@Joe Frickin Friday](#):
>
> And then [a horse, of course.](http://nynerd.com/thatll-ruin-your-whole-day/)

Hey! Is that a Mustang?

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