Kevin Harts crash of his highly modified 1970 Plymouth Barracuda is all over the news. Luckily the government is getting ready to swoop in to save us all from anything like this ever happening again.
All of automotive media outlets are reporting talk of new regulations requiring the installation of 5-point harnesses for restored cars like this. Though, there doesn’t seem to be anyone attributed to saying this so who knows where it came from (+1 journalistic integrity). Anyhow, suggesting 5-point harnesses for a street car shows an overwhelming amount of ignorance. Anyone who has been around the race track knows that 5-point harnesses are a part of a safety system and do not work so well alone. Furthermore, it seems that no-one consulted the DOT because they would have known that 5-point harnesses are illegal on the street.
The standard 3-point belt that all modern street cars come with (over the shoulder and across the body) is designed to allow the drivers torso to slip out the sides. This is good if the car were to flip over and have the roof cave in as it allows the occupant to lean over. While a 5-point harness, which covers both shoulders independently, has a lap belt and then an anti-submarine belt, restricts all movement of the driver. The 5-point harness needs to be combined with a rollcage so the roof of the car will not collapse, and possibly a seat with holes for the shoulder straps to come through. The cage also provides a solid mounting locations for the shoulder straps.
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