I have a late model 2004. Yesterday I took 3 friends for a drive. There was a lot of grumbling, and difficulty fastening the rear seat belts. Today I got out the owner's manual, and reviewed the information about the belts. In my Prius, the female buckle labeled "center" is on the outboard side of the rear seat behind the driver's seat. That makes it difficult for a center passenger to buckle the belt. In the owner's manual, the "center" buckle appears to be toward the center. Perhaps they are reversed? I appreciate your response.
Here's a suggestion: Tell the center-rear passenger to duck and watch out for the mirror as they are launched through the windshield. Seriously now: I just checked and my '04 is the same way. Two females on stiff stalks and one - left of the center - is marked 'center'. I can only think that you waste less space if the belts overlap like that. I've never had three poeple in the back so it's never come up.
Pretty standard I think. Gives a tad more room to buckle the belt. Still, if you have 3 people in the back, they need to be friendly about shifting their arses so the others can buckle up.
I only had 2 people in the back seat. It just seemed to make sense that the buckle nearest you would be the correct one. In the dim light, at night, you can't read the word "center" on the buckle. The airlines don't configure their seat belts this way.
Yeah, and if the car was 8' wide, they probably would be too! I didn't measure or anything, but just looking at them, it seems that the two outboard seats are more sculpted and the center person gets short shrift. By putting the clasp further outboard, they get a tad more hip room to the buckle. My wife's Subaru is like that, so was my 86' Mazda. Maybe it is 'standard design' with Japanese cars, but not those from other areas?
I solved the "problem". The outboard buckle, labeled "center" can be easily tucked behind the other buckle, to put it "inboard", and easier to fasten for the passenger.
