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Many modern cars have passive safety systems, such as airbags, which do not work, if passengers are not fastened with seatbelts. But even if they work without belts, serious injuries are inevitable. Therefore unfastened belt is a threat to your life, without mentioning the wasted money on additional security.
Statistics
It is noted that in Sweden 620-640 people die in car accidents during a year (population of 8,3 million people). In Lithuania, the same number of people dies during 9 months (Lithuania’s population is 4 million people). Maybe the Lithuanians drive worse? No. The secret is that seat belts are used by 83% of drivers in Sweden, and in Lithuania – only 30%.
Curiously, in the Switzerland the law about seat belts was adopted in 1976. After all, since they became mandatory, the number of serious injuries in car accidents decreased by 5 times.
In Japan, it is estimated that the use of safety belts helps to avoid death in 75 cases out of 100. In the U.S., the data point: straps help to prevent death in a collision in 77 cases out of 100.
Now, in all civilized countries the use of safety belts is mandatory. Ignoring them means a large fine. In some countries, the driver without fastened belt, in case of an accident will not get insurance. In other countries the use of seat belts increases the insured sum by 25%.
It must be said that now there are more and more cars that signal before the trip that the driver is not fastened or refuse to start up. Such machines have already appeared at the streets, but the domestic market is designed for conscious drivers.
Some drivers say that it is uncomfortable to drive with a seat belt without freedom of movement, and you can burn in an accident trying to leave the car being fastened. There is only one sense in these words: the belt really hinders the movements if to stretch hands for a glove compartment or to open the right rear door. But you can unfasten, open the door and then fasten again.

Who has invented the three-point safety belt?
It is believed that the first seat belts were constructed by Adolphe Pégoud, the French pilot whose wish was to fly on his airplane upside down. And in several decades the seat belt finally came down to earth. However, the first design of safety belts for cars was developed by automobilists.
In the early 50s the American constructor Kenneth Ligon and his brother, Bob Ligon patented safety belt for cars, which had two attachment points and fixed the body around the waist. This invention was installed in cars “Ford”. Undoubtedly, these belts protected drivers but did not guarantee protection and sometimes damaged the internal organs, affecting the abdominal cavity. Naturally, the customers were skeptical.
Three-point safety belt is one of the most important safety devices developed in the automotive industry during its entire history. It was invented by Nils Bohlin, the engineer in the company Volvo. The effectiveness Bohlin’s invention was confirmed by the Patent Office in Germany, which has included a safety belt into the list of eight patents with the highest importance to mankind during the century from 1885 to 1985.
Constructing his invention Bohlin implemented four golden rules, which he considered to be the most important for the safety in the car. The belt included two parts – one at the level of hips, another one holding the upper part of the body. The upper part of the belt was at the level of the pelvis and thorax. The belt was fastened in the lower part near the seat. It reminded the form of a letter “V”, pointing down to the floor of the car. In addition, the belt remained fixed and does not move under loading.
This was the main difference between the V-shaped belt Bolin, compared with the previous design of belts, developed by other constructors. In fact Bohlin’s belt was not simply an innovative solution, but also represented a geometrical perfection. Soon the three-point safety belts were applied around the world, because Volvo made Bohlin’s patent available to all automakers.
Soon Volvo realized that the passengers in the back seats also need to provide reliable security system. Earlier people were convinced that the back seats are already protected by themselves in the case of collision: there was a widespread belief that the primary risk had the people sitting on the front seats. Few people paid attention to the fact that during the collision the passengers from the back seats move quickly forward, and they not only risk to get serious injures, but also cause injure the driver and passenger from the front seats.
Bohlin quickly realized the need to protect all the passengers and to develop a system of protection in case of side impact. In the early 70s he began to work on the creation of various new technical solutions. As a result today Volvo applies in all cars well-known patented system of Side Impact Protection (SIPS). Volvo was one of the first among automobile companies in the world, who proposed this system in their cars.
Nils Bohlin retired in 1985, but he continued to consult Volvo professionals on various issues that related to the development of security systems. Nils Bohlin, died in 2002 at the age of 82.
Conclusion
In general, seat belts reduce the risk of fatal outcome and serious injury by about 50 percent. Many people believe that the three-point safety belt has not changed over the past 50 years. On the one hand – this is correct, on the other – no. The unique design of the belt has remained unchanged. But the difference is that today’s safety belt is a part of the high-tech security system that is constantly being improved. Volvo has never stopped to work on the improvement of safety belts, using advanced technologies of passengers’ protection.
One of the constantly developing details is a retractor. It receives signals from sensors detecting a collision, and increases the belt tension, keeping the body in the seat. This is vitally important for the passengers in warm winter clothing. Retractors provide the desired tension and the belt keeps the person in the seat at the very first stage of the collision. So retractors’ main goal is to react on car stop, pulling the driver and the passengers with a seat belt to the seat back, completely eliminating the gap between the belt and the human body.
The additional element of retractor’s mechanism is the limiter of efforts. Its main objective is to reduce the effects of safety belt on the human thorax during the collision. Limiter of efforts weakening the tension of the belt provides gentle effect of passive safety systems on the owner’s body.
But the three-point belt, even equipped with limiter of efforts and force, seems to be not eternal. Now many car manufacturers began to develop even more effective four-point belts. Some experts believe that this belt will be in cars in some 10 years. But this is only a prediction. Meanwhile, Nils Bohlin’s three-point safety belts continue to save drivers’ lives.

 
Bibliography
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