Whats the difference between safety belt and harness?

Question

For the racing class im going to be in they say you need a safety belt and harness and just need to no what a harness is

Answer 1

It's like...it's something that straps you in better...goes over your chest and clicks into place in the center of your chest I believe...it's just to make sure you stay against the back of the seat and are not able to bend forward at the waist.

Answer 2

Striclty speaking, a belt is a harness. Though there wouold be a number of differences between a standard safety belt and what would be expected in a harness for racing. First, a racing harness would not have retractable elements, they would be fully tightened all the time - this is needed because while driving under load it's also the job of the harness to hold you in place as well as to act as a safety device in the event of an impact.

Second, a standard safety belt in a modern car is secured to the car at three points. The minimum you'll find on a race harness is four point... although I am not aware of any race series that allows anything less than a five point harness (and 6 point would be my preference). A four point harness could be ineffective as there is nothing to keep the belt around your middle from riding up which can greatly increase the chance of abdominal injury in an accident (this is why safety belts allow you to go forward a little before locking, to prevent you either sliding down, or the belt sliding up).

If you are installing a racing harness in a car, keep in mind that it is part of a system, and will do little good (and even worse than the standard) if you do only this. For example, the top belts on a harness will need guides, if they just lay over the seats like a safety belt, they will be prone to slipping off your shoulders in the event of an impact, and leave you with just a lap belt for protection. If you install a race harness, you should have an appropriate seat/shell and a harness guide bar. Further, in the event of a roll over, if you have a harness and a racing shell, you well not be able to slide to the side, increasing your chance of head and neck injury. To protect against this you should have a roll bar or roll cage.

If you have a roll bar or roll cage, take not of if your head could come into contact with these bars... make sure they are padded in either case. And if you drive on the street in this car and your head could contact the bars during an impact, you should wear a helmet while driving. When racing with this kind of setup, you may want to consider a HANS device and a back brace on the seat.

But going back to the original question, you need to recheck the rules. You would not use a racing harness AND a safety belt. It would be one or the other. All sanctioned racing that I know of will require a 5 point harness and roll cage, as well as things like an external kill switch. Drivers would be required to wear at least a single layer nomex suit, shoes, gloves, and a current or near current Snell approved helmet (close faced if the car has an open top).

Answer 3

I think this would help best it shows the difference in regular seat belts versus the harness type.
[edit] Types of seat belts
Different types of seatbelts :


Three point seat belt, Citroen BXLap: Adjustable strap that goes over the waist. Used frequently in older cars, now uncommon except in some rear middle seats. Passenger aircraft seats also use lap seat belts.
Two-point: A restraint system with two attachment points. A lap belt or (less commonly) diagonal belt (rare, common prior to the 1990s).
Automatic: Any seat belt that closes itself automatically. There is also a lap belt which should be fastened.
Sash: Adjustable strap that goes over the shoulder. Used mainly in the 1960s, but of limited benefit because it is very easy to slip out of in a collision.
Lap and Sash: Combination of the two above (two separate belts). Mainly used in the 1960s and 1970s, usually in the rear. Generally superseded by three-point design.
Three-point: Similar to the lap and sash, but one single continuous length of webbing. Both three-point and lap-and-sash belts help spread out the energy of the moving body in a collision over the chest, pelvis, and shoulders. Until the 1980s three-point belts were commonly available only in the front seats of cars, the back seats having only lap belts. Evidence of the potential for lap belts to cause separation of the lumbar vertebrae and the sometimes associated paralysis, or "seat belt syndrome", has led to a revision of safety regulations in nearly all of the developed world requiring that all seats in a vehicle be equipped with three-point belts. By September 1, 2007, all new cars sold in the US will require a lap and shoulder belt in the center rear.[1]
Criss Cross Belt: Experimental safety belt presented in the Volvo SCC. It forms a cross-brace across the chest [2].

HarnessFive-point harnesses are safer but more restrictive seat belts. They are typically found in child safety seats and in racing cars. The lap portion is connected to a belt between the legs and there are two shoulder belts, making a total of five points of attachment to the seat. (Strictly speaking, harnesses are never to be fastened to the seat - they should be fastened to the frame/sub-frame of the automobile.)
Six-point harnesses is like a five-point harness but includes an extra belt between the legs. These belts are used mainly in racing. In NASCAR, the six-point harness became popular after the death of Dale Earnhardt. Earnhardt was wearing a five-point harness when he crashed and died. Because it was thought at first that his belt had broken, some teams ordered a six-point harness. The sixth point has two belts between the legs, which is seen by some to be a weaker point than the other

Answer 4

Belt is just for the lap or 1 shoulder. Harness crosses over both shoulders and covers the lap aswell.

Answer 5

SAFETY , THEY ARE BOTHE FOR SAFTY BUT A HARNESS HOLDS YOU IN TIGHTER