Volvo's Three-Point Safety Belt Celebrates 50 Years of Saving Lives

Thursday 13 August marked the 50th anniversary of the life-saving V-shaped three-point seat belt, invented by Volvo Engineer Nils Bohlin in 1959, and Volvo's visionary open patent which granted free use of the design to all other car manufacturers.

The design is as obvious as it is intelligent. Easily fastened with one hand, it secures the seat's occupant in place with a belt across the chest and another across the hips - a vast improvement on the previous two-point waist restraint.

Today, the simple ‘click-clack front-and-back' has been recognised worldwide as the most widely used and significant safety innovation in the automobile's more than 120 year long history. It is estimated that more than a million people owe their lives[1] to the seat belt, and it has saved many times that number of people from serious injury. It is also recognised as one of the eight patents to have the greatest significance for humanity during the hundred years from 1885 to 1985[2].

"The decision to release the three point seat belt patent was visionary and in line with Volvo's guiding principle of safety," says Alan Desselss, Managing Director of Volvo Car Australia. "It's why we like to say there's a little bit of Volvo in every car."

Research indicates that vehicle occupants have a 50 per cent better chance of surviving a crash, if they are wearing a seat belt, reducing the risk of fatalities and serious injuries from collisions. Most countries have now legalised the use of seatbelts for all drivers, although seat belt use in some areas is as low as 3.8 per cent[3].

The real breakthrough in legislation actually came from Victoria, which was the first state worldwide to draw up legislation in 1970 requiring not just the fitting of seat belts, but also their actual use. In the first year of law, traffic fatalities in the state dropped by 18 per cent. New South Wales followed with similar legislation a year later and today, everyone but taxi drivers are legally required across Australia to wear seatbelts front and back.

The future of the seatbelt is constantly evolving. Volvo is exploring ways to improve their design and make the process of wearing a seat belt easier and even safer. A four point attachment is under discussion as is a motorised belt that tightens the belt and places the driver in the right position in potentially hazardous situations.

[1] Estimate by Volvo based on general and in-house statistics on accidents and belt usage.

[2] According to German patent registrars. This honour is shared with patent-holders such as Benz, Edison and Diesel

[3] In the US today, only 83 percent of front-seat passengers use their seat belt even thought seat belt legislation is enforced in all states except for New Hampshire. On the island of Sakhalin in Russia, safety belt use is as low as 3.8 per cent, and only 23 per cent of Costa Rican and South Korean drivers used seatbelts up until legislation enforcements in the mid 2000's.

Based on a relatively simple but highly effective mechanical design, the three-point safety belt, Volvo Cars has developed a high-tech safety system that provides the best possible protection for the car's occupants. The examples in the list below show the journey - so far - from that groundbreaking innovation in 1959 onward:

1959 Three -point safety belt in the front, a Volvo innovation
1967 Safety belts fitted as standard, rear
1969 Three -point inertia-reel safety belts, front
1971 Seat belt reminders, front
1972 Three -point safety belts, rear
1986 Three -point safety belts, rear middle seat
1987 Mechanical belt pre-tensioner
1991 Automatic height adjustment for safety belts, front
1992 Pyrotechnical belt pre-tensioners, front
1993 Three -point inertia-reel safety belts in all seats
1996 Force limiters in safety belts, front
1999 Pyrotechnical belt pre-tensioners in all seats
1999 Force limiters in hip belts, front
2003 Seat belt reminders in all seats
2003 Pyrotechnical belt pre-tensioners for hip belts, front
2003 Adaptive force limiters, front
2007 2-level force limiters for children and adults respectively, rear
2008 Adaptive force limiters for low-speed impacts (PRS), front