50 Years of the Safety Belt

On August 13, 2009, Volvo Cars will celebrate the 50th anniversary of the standard-fit three point safety belts, which appeared for the first time on a Volvo PV544 delivered Thursday August 13, 1959 to a Volvo dealer in the Swedish town of Kristianstad. Over the next 50 years, the V-shaped three-point safety belt saved well over one million lives. The modern safety belt is the cornerstone of the car's interior safety system, working alongside additional features such as airbags, belt pre-tensioners and force limiters.

Category:

Autos & Vehicles

Tags:

• Volvo
• Seat Belt
• video
• news
• car
• safety
• auto
• accident
• automobile
• vehicle
• educational
• crash

[myaos]

as much as i don't like volvo

they deserve credit for their safety excellence

[seroyer2]

Volvo is why so many of us are alive today. and today any new car is safe because of the head way that volvo made.

[eemoscrashed]

Volvo became the first car manufacturer in the world to fit seat belts as standard? Really? I think that quote to be amended to something along the lines of... Volvo became to first car manufacturer in the world to fit the 3 point seat belt as standard. As they fitted them as standard in 1959. While Saab had been fitting seat belts as standard for a year already (from 1958), although these were the older 2 point seat belts.

[Planeguy13]

I still think we need four point seatbelts. The current seatbelts work great in frontal accidents but look at any side or rollover crash test and you can see how easily the occupant slides out of the shoulder strap of the seatbelt.

[3312cdfp5674]

too lazy

[feltonw]

y is this video so popular in italy?

[spconway11]

I don't think there has been anyone in the entire world who has thought "hey i got a safety belt on lets ram into that minivan"

[alexfair8589]

ahh ok, so somewhat the same rules that apply over here in Australia

[kjids]

New Zealand

[alexfair8589]

oh damn! what country are you in?

[kjids]

idk lol i got a fine yesterday for not wearing a helmet $60

[alexfair8589]

yeah that's pretty crazy huh? over here (AUS) they've got ads running on TV which show what happens to people who ride motorbikes and don't wear protective clothing like leathers. It's pretty graphic, shows their skin coming off and all that nasty stuff... Why so relaxed in the U.S.?