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. Pre-tensioners and force limiters were but small modifications to what remains a habit the government forces on us. No problem, it’s easy to see why. Check out all the other safety additions that have come along. Does any one of them make you feel as safe?
• Rear seat belts
• Driver airbag
• Passenger airbag
• Side airbags
• Surround you bags
• Crumple zones
• Side impact door beams
• Lock out transmissions
• Lane monitoring
• Dynamic cruise control
• Night vision
• Child car seats
• Pre-collision systems
• Heads up displays
• Traction control
• ABS brakes
Fun fact… The first U.S. patent for automobile seat beats was issued to Edward J. Claghorn of New York, New York on February 10, 1885. Claghorn was granted United States Patent #312,085 for a Safety-Belt for tourists, described in the patent as “designed to be applied to the person, and provided with hooks and other attachments for securing the person to a fixed object.”
Anonymous
I guess that I can say that I’m “addicted” to seat belts myself. Yes, I like the typical 3-point system, which is used in cars nowadays. I especially like the ALR feature that many newer cars have, so that I can enjoy this good and snug across my chest. I started getting a real taste for this strap across my chest around age 18 or so (around 1985). This is about 100 times nicer than watching Jeopardy!