BUCKLE UP
Drivers are only just realising the hidden meaning behind the date inscribed into major car brand’s seatbelts
The date has been on the seatbelt for decades
DRIVERS are only just realising the hidden meaning behind the date inscribed into a major car brand's seatbelts.
The eagle-eyed Volvo drivers among us have noticed a design feature imprinted on their seat belts.
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'Since 1959' has been etched on every Volvo seat belt buckle to mark the introduction of the three-point seat belt in 1959, reports
The Swedish car manufacturer is an industry leader in it's handy life-saving features, including side curtain airbags, blind spot monitoring and a built-in child seat.
The three-point seat belt is one of Volvo engineer, Nils Bohlin's, most famous inventions, with the cross-strap design now a vital feature of any modern-day car.
Bohlin's invention addressed two huge problems with the two-point belt design: a single strap didn't restrain the upper body and people didn't want to wear them.
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He made seat belts comfortable and easy to use, which resulted in a remarkable growth for seat belt usage in Sweden, from 25% in 1965 to over 90% in 1975.
, Bohlin revealed that, of the 37,511 people involved in 28,000 road traffic accidents, no passengers wearing a three-point seat belt had died, unless travelling above 60 mph.
Volvo said: "Few people have saved as many lives as Nils Bohlin."
Volvo ensured that the patent on the design was available to all so that three-point seat belts could be adopted universally across the motor industry.
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Not all received the invention with open arms, with some sensing that seat belts presented an opportunity for dangerous driving.
32% of people in the US were still refusing to wear a seat belt 37 years after Bohlin's invention.
However, wearing a seat belt is now embedded into law and culture, even if it did take State 25 years to put seat belt laws in place.
Volvo's inscription of the date 1959 is certainly a nice touch to commemorate their commitment and innovation to save many lives on our roads.
Drivers are also just discovering the hidden meaning behind the Jeep Avenger's design and the Jaguar XE's pulsing red start-stop button.
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