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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

to assume I´m not the only person to find seatbelts uncomfortable

78 replies

Happy36 · 05/08/2015 16:14

Been in a car more often this past month or so than usual (I don´t drive and we don´t own a car). Seatbelts are so uncomfortable! Does anyone else find the seatbelt rubs their boob/nipple on the opposite side? I have taken to holding the belt away from my body in the boob area to avoid the unpleasant rubbing sensation.

OP posts:
Original poster
Happy36 · 05/08/2015 18:20

Thanks Tuskerfull I didn´t realise that I was lessening the belt´s effectiveness by holding it away from the skin it was rubbing against. I will stop doing that.

OP posts:
BlackeyedSusan · 05/08/2015 18:25

I can remember not having to wear seat belts and feeling extremely uncomfortable getting a lift in a car without them. seat belts everytime for me... even after I got injury from seat belt. the injury form not wearing it would have been much worse.

Goldmandra · 05/08/2015 21:32

I know you can buy clips to change the position of seat belts but have never tried one because I don't know if they affect how the seat belt works.

Having said that, it can't be that safe if you're in an impact when the belt is across your neck either.

Original poster
Happy36 · 05/08/2015 21:36

Definitely, Susan. A bit of boob discomfort is nothing compared to whiplash, or even worse.

OP posts:
Rainbunny · 05/08/2015 21:56

I'm 5'4" and the seatbelt always hovers dangerously close to my neck, in fact I used to wonder if it would tighten over my neck and strangle me in a car accident. Then I was in a car accident and it did not touch my neck, it did save my life though. The force of the impact would have thrown me through the windshield but the seatbelt held me in. It did result in a broken collarbone where it restrained me but I was happy to walk away alive.

LaLyra · 05/08/2015 21:56

goldmandra That's why I bought one. Someone hit us from behind when I was in the passenger seat and I had awful bruising across my neck. I shudder to think how much worse it would have been had it been at any kind of speed.

The clip I've got doesn't impede the seat belt in anyway, it still locks when it needs too, but now the belt is adjusted by about an inch it is across my chest and shoulder correctly. I think it's got to be safer as it makes the belt actually work properly.

contractor6 · 05/08/2015 21:58

Depends on the car, lower car seat I get rubbing on the neck in higher up car not so much a problem.

DepecheNO · 05/08/2015 23:26

I'm autistic, so hypersensitive. Could not stand seatbelts when we first got a car (I was 10, and not used to it at all). Do remember it rubbing my neck, and once I started developing I'd slip the seatbelt under my breast because it was uncomfortable. I still do always wear a seatbelt, and don't think about it as much any more, but I definitely think it was worse when I was a) shorter, and b) braless (both at 10 and for a phase at 16).

xavierfondue · 05/08/2015 23:51

How do you adjust the seatbelt height? I've tried to adjust mine lower but the fastening seems too tight to move.

lalyra - sorry if you've mentioned this before, but where did you get the seatbelt clip from? Halfords?

LaLyra · 06/08/2015 02:47

xavier Yeah you can get them in Halfords. I got the last ones from Betterware. You can get them on Amazon as well.

xavierfondue · 06/08/2015 13:02

Brill - thanks. I told my teenager that I thought I might need a booster seat and she PHSL. She's 6ft in high heels. FML.

xavierfondue · 06/08/2015 13:06

Brill - thanks. I told my teenager that I thought I might need a booster seat and she PHSL. She's 6ft in high heels. FML.

xavierfondue · 06/08/2015 13:07

Argh ,damn you, internet connection ...

hiccupgirl · 06/08/2015 13:42

At just under 5' 4" I need a booster seat too as the seat belt always cuts across my neck and I'm forever adjusting it back into my shoulder. I'm going to look out for one of those clips.

MountainDweller · 06/08/2015 14:43

no boob trouble here but am short and feel like I'm being strangled. Thanks for the tip about the clip, will have a look.

diddl · 06/08/2015 14:55

I'm only 5ft & get th neck thing.

Not sure if I'm tall enough to be without a booster.

Good job it goes by age as wellGrin

Stingingthistle · 06/08/2015 20:54

Never had this!

ShelaghTurner · 06/08/2015 21:18

Yep 5' 2" and garrotted by the seatbelt. Boob discomfort I can deal with but strangulation makes it hard to concentrate on the road. Am googling seatbelt clips.

Happfeet2911 · 06/08/2015 23:20

Just wear the bloody thing when police are about! To all pearl clutchers, we survived without them for years, I'm over 18, my choice, nanny state at its best!

MrsMook · 06/08/2015 23:35

I have raised moles on my neck which are perfectly positioned for seat chaffing, so I use a seat belt cover. It's a little clumpy, but better than having my neck rubbed sore. I also sit on a cushion to drive. I have an adjustable seat for driving, but it stops the discomfort of the seat being too deep and digging into the backs of my knees.

I had to use a bump belt in my first pregnancy to hold the lower strap away from my abdomen as the irritation/ distraction factor was dangerously high.

Bunbaker · 06/08/2015 23:39

"Seatbelts are so uncomfortable! Does anyone else find the seatbelt rubs their boob/nipple on the opposite side?"

No they aren't, and no they don't.

"To all pearl clutchers, we survived without them for years, I'm over 18, my choice, nanny state at its best!"

What a ridiculous statement. We didn't all survive without them for years. Many people died.

Apparenty Princess Diana would have lived if she had been wearing a seat belt and research shows that seat belts more than halve the risk of death in a collision.

unlucky83 · 06/08/2015 23:43

My old car (secondhand) came with one of the adjusters - and it irritated me more than the seat belt rubbing my neck - it didn't allow the seat belt to automatically return so I either had to take it off or trap the belt in the door etc - are newer ones better or do you still have the same problem?
If you don't I'd have another one ...
I'm 5'6" and with the belt on the lowest setting it chaffs my neck...
I raised the height of my seat but that meant I had to sit too close to the wheel (airbag) to reach the pedals even with the wheel set to be as far a way as possible ....actually typing this wondering if I should try sat further back but then would have to drop the height of the seat Confused
Also wondering if it is because drivers seats are still designed for taller (male) drivers. Passenger seat belt is ok on my 5'2" 14 yr old...Hmm

Bunbaker · 06/08/2015 23:45

Driver seats themselves are adjustable in many cars these days. Perhaps adjusting the seat height will make the belt more comfortable.

LaLyra · 07/08/2015 02:48

Unlucky the one i have slides so the belt retracts almost as normal, there's about an inch left out, but it's up at the top bit so doesn't cause a trip hazard.

Also the last one from betterware was a half second to unslip the belt from one half of the clip to allow it to retract completely (it was clipped to the lap part of the belt, then the diagonal part was slipped into it to adjust it properly). Not perfect, but not time consuming at all really.

unlucky83 · 07/08/2015 10:42

Thanks LaLyra
I'll look into them - the one I had was fixed you had to take it off to get it to retract - so a faff.
Guess also at the time I had to get two children fastened in and out of car seats -I didn't need more faffing! Just going to the local shop was an expedition Grin.