Star Trek should have seat belts, according to Star Trek: Deep Space Nine‘s Lt. Commander Jadzia Dax actor, Terry Farrell, and Star Trek: Voyager‘s Ensign Harry Kim actor, Garrett Wang. In Star Trek, every Starship Enterprise and other warp-capable spacefaring vessels, like the USS Voyager, USS Defiant, and all of DS9’s runabout-class shuttles are usually hurtling through space faster than the speed of light. Despite this, daily life is unaffected by the speed of Star Trek-style space travel, as action takes place aboard starships that seem unusually stationary, whether traveling at warp or even sub-light speeds.
The laws of physics seemingly kick in when starships, shuttles, or runabouts take damage in battle. Under enemy fire, Starfleet personnel lurch in place and brace themselves for the hit. The unluckiest officers are thrown from their stations and land on the floor, sometimes with grievous injuries. Space travel is dangerous, of course, but when Starfleet officers might face far worse threats, like Borg assimilation, exploding with Gorn eggs, or a Moopsy drinking their bones, shouldn’t there be seat belts to mitigate the chances of meeting an untimely demise by getting knocked out of one’s seat when the Romulans just happen to attack?
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DS9 & Voyager Actors Wonder Why Star Trek Doesn’t Have Seat Belts
DS9’s Jadzia Dax actor has a theory about Star Trek seat belts.
On The Delta Flyers podcast, DS9‘s Terry Farrell reviews Star Trek: Deep Space Nine season 1, episode 13, “Battle Lines”, with co-hosts Robert Duncan McNeill and Garrett Wang, of Voyager fame. Early in “Battle Lines,” the runabout is hit, leading to injuries for both Major Kira Nerys (Nana Visitor) and Kai Opaka (Camille Saviola), and Farrell questions Starfleet’s lack of safety restraints. Read their conversation and listen to The Delta Flyers below, starting at the 34:27 timestamp.
Terry Farrell:
Does anyone else think, why don’t we have seat belts on here?
A harness! You’re flying through space and you don’t have what [an airline] pilot would have? You’re kidding me.
Garrett Wang: That’s how it’s always been, Terry. In every Trek incarnation.
Terry Farrell: I know, but it makes no sense. It’s so maddening.
Garrett Wang: When J.J. Abrams took over that [2009] feature film … there’s seat belts in that film.
Terry Farrell: I think it’s because [having seat belts] stops you from getting up easily. But you should still have them for flight.
Star Trek Invented Inertial Dampeners to Avoid Seat Belts on Starships
Star Trek does have seat belts, they just use them occasionally.
To avoid the need for seat belts on starships, Star Trek invented inertial dampeners, or dampers, as an essential part of starship systems. By absorbing inertia, the dampeners counter the effects of a vehicle’s acceleration, especially at warp speeds. Like artificial gravity generators, inertial dampeners allow the environment aboard a starship to successfully mimic the real-world conditions that Star Trek shows are produced in. Inertial dampeners are a default system that even includes a bypass, should they go offline, so it’s implied that all the falling down that happens on starships under attack would actually be much worse if inertial dampeners didn’t exist.
Star Trek seat belts do exist, but they’re rarely used. As Voyager‘s Garrett Wang says, seat belts are intentionally engaged during turbulent conditions in J.J. Abrams’ Star Trek (2009). Similar over-the-shoulder seat harnesses exist in the Prime Timeline 24th century, turning up in Star Trek: The Next Generation, Star Trek: Nemesis, and Star Trek: Picard. A more familiar-looking seat belt was in Star Trek: Lower Decks when Lt. Beckett Mariner (Tawny Newsome) used a seat belt to secure a Genesis Device in a bridge seat. There’s no single reason seat belts aren’t used more often in Star Trek, but Farrell and Wang aren’t wrong to think they should be.
