Volvo’s Gift To The World, Modern Seatbelts Have Saved Millions Of Lives
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Volvo’s Gift To The World, Modern Seatbelts Have Saved Millions Of Lives
Volvo proudly exclaim that: “few people have saved as many lives as Nils Bohlin”. And they are right. Nils Bohlin is the little-known Volvo engineer who invented the V-type three-point safety belt in 1959, and saw his innovation through to universal adoption across the motor industry. His new cross-strap design made seat belts much easier to use, and much safer too. It is hard now to imagine cars without them.
The origins of this are fascinating. 2019 is the 60th anniversary of Bohlin’s breakthrough idea, and one worth celebrating. Volvo carved out a space in the competitive car industry by making driver and passenger safety a core part of its brand at a time when this was an afterthought for many car makers.
Volvo’s president at the time was Gunnar Engellau, an engineer himself, who had suffered direct personal loss from a road traffic accident. A relative had died, partly because of shortcomings in the two-point belt design - which was not even standard feature in cars at the time. This personal tragedy encouraged Engellau to find a better solution, poaching Nils Bohlin from rival firm Saab, and setting about this problem as a matter of urgency. Volvo would invent a better solution, and be the first car maker to standardise it.
Invention Versus Innovation
There were two major problems with the historic 2-point belt design, which crosses the lap only. Firstly, the human pelvis is hinged. A single strap doesn’t restrain the torso, leaving passengers vulnerable to severe head, chest and spinal injuries in a collision. Positioned badly, the belt can crush your internal organs on impact. They don't work very well. Secondly, people don’t want to wear them. Until Bohlin’s commission, mid-century seat belts were clumsy and uncomfortable. If you can’t persuade people to wear a restraint, it turns out that they are useless.
Much credit to Bohlin for making seat belts much more comfortable then, and much easier to use. You could now buckle-up across the chest and waist, using just one hand. This seems simple enough. But even with the new design improvements, it took six years of promotion to persuade a minority of Swedes to use the new design. This was not going to be an overnight success.
source from https://docsbay.net/volvo-s-gift-to-...lions-of-lives
The origins of this are fascinating. 2019 is the 60th anniversary of Bohlin’s breakthrough idea, and one worth celebrating. Volvo carved out a space in the competitive car industry by making driver and passenger safety a core part of its brand at a time when this was an afterthought for many car makers.
Volvo’s president at the time was Gunnar Engellau, an engineer himself, who had suffered direct personal loss from a road traffic accident. A relative had died, partly because of shortcomings in the two-point belt design - which was not even standard feature in cars at the time. This personal tragedy encouraged Engellau to find a better solution, poaching Nils Bohlin from rival firm Saab, and setting about this problem as a matter of urgency. Volvo would invent a better solution, and be the first car maker to standardise it.
Invention Versus Innovation
There were two major problems with the historic 2-point belt design, which crosses the lap only. Firstly, the human pelvis is hinged. A single strap doesn’t restrain the torso, leaving passengers vulnerable to severe head, chest and spinal injuries in a collision. Positioned badly, the belt can crush your internal organs on impact. They don't work very well. Secondly, people don’t want to wear them. Until Bohlin’s commission, mid-century seat belts were clumsy and uncomfortable. If you can’t persuade people to wear a restraint, it turns out that they are useless.
Much credit to Bohlin for making seat belts much more comfortable then, and much easier to use. You could now buckle-up across the chest and waist, using just one hand. This seems simple enough. But even with the new design improvements, it took six years of promotion to persuade a minority of Swedes to use the new design. This was not going to be an overnight success.
source from https://docsbay.net/volvo-s-gift-to-...lions-of-lives
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