Nils Bohlin of Volvo

Volvo safety engineer Nils Bohlin models the then-revolutionary three-point safety belt in this 1958 file photo.

NEW YORK–(BUSINESS WIRE)–This year marks the 50th anniversary of the most important lifesaving device in automotive safety: the 3-point seat belt. Patented in 1959, the three-point safety belt has saved more than one million lives and was introduced in the Volvo Amazon (120) and PV 544 in the Nordic markets. Volvo thus became the first car maker in the world to equip its cars with 3-point safety belts as standard.

Invented by Volvo safety engineer, Nils Bohlin in 1958, the 3-point belt has played a central role for occupant protection in all Volvo’s cars since its introduction in 1959. Volvo offered standard front-seat 3-point seat belts in the US in 1963 and rear-seat 3-point belts in 1972.
Recognizing the 3-point seat belt’s safety potential, Volvo Cars quickly released the patent so that other car manufacturers could offer the revolutionary design in their vehicles. Today, every modern car comes standard with 3-point seat belts.
It is the safety belt’s ability to keep the occupant in the seat that is of crucial importance. All told, the belt reduces the risk of fatalities and serious injuries from collisions by about 50 percent. Seat belt usage in the US reached its highest rate in 2008, with 83 percent of front-seat occupants buckling up.
Is it possible to improve upon perfection? The answer is that Volvo will never stop advancing vehicle safety. Today, the 3-point seat belt is just one component of a much larger safety system within the car. Multiple grades of steel, intelligent airbags, electronic vehicle stability systems, Roll Stability Control (RSC) and low-speed accident avoidance systems such as City Safety all work together to help prevent or mitigate a collision.
Volvo recently showed a concept of a 4-point seat belt and while this design has some advantages over the current 3-point belt, issues concerning usage rates and body attachment points for the 4th belt are still being discussed.
For now, the 3-point seat belt remains the most important safety device in the car’s 120-year history.
To view the Volvo video and image library with print quality downloads, go here: http://mnr.onthescene.com/volvo/50th-anniversary.html
More information is available at www.volvo.us.com