At Volvo, we're celebrating the anniversary of the most effective and important lifesaving device in the 120-year history of the car — the three-point safety belt. An invention that was the result of Volvo believing that "safe" is never quite safe enough.
In the late 1950s, Volvo had already developed a multitude of solutions to prevent an occupant from impacting with a car's interior components as well as lessening the severity of such impacts in a collision. These efforts included diagonal, two-point belts in the front seats. However, the design was not considered optimal, as the position of the belt buckle was more likely to damage the body's soft organs rather than protect them.
At that time, even the president of Volvo, Gunnar Engellau, had a relative who had died in a road accident, in part due to shortcomings in the two-point belt. Engellau decided it was up to his company to develop a better alternative — so he recruited an engineer by the name of Nils Bohlin, as a safety engineer.
It didn't take Bohlin long to realize that both the upper and lower body needed be secured in place, with one belt across the chest and another across the hips. Once this was identified, he had to create a solution that was both effective and simple to use. In 1959, he proceeded to invent the V-type, three-point safety belt. Perfectly suited to a seat occupant's body, the design was as intuitive as it was intelligent. Soon after, Volvo became the first carmaker in the world to equip its cars with safety belts, standard.
Despite the fact that his invention was first met with a degree of skepticism, it didn't take long for prove sled tests and trial impacts to prove its genius. The benefits of the three-point design soon spread throughout the world, since Volvo immediately made Bohlin's patent available to all carmakers. With lives at stake, the company knew it was an idea worth sharing. The design was so brilliant; in fact, the three-point safety belt still provides the most effective form of protection in the event of an accident, today.
Since the 1960s, Bohlin's belt has saved many hundreds of thousands of lives and prevented or reduced the severity of injuries among millions of others. During his time at Volvo, this amazing man came to lead the company's safety drive towards ever-safer occupant protection in his cars. He also received numerous international honors for his important contributions. But when all is said and done, we still believe Mr. Bohlin's most important achievement is still the safety belt. Thanks to him, saving lives is as easy as grab, stretch and click.