Volvo Celebrates 50 Years since the Invention of the 3-Point Seat Belt
Seat Belt credited with saving 1,000,000 lives
Volvo has recently celebrated the 50 Year Anniversary of the invention of the now standard 3-point seat belt that was first installed on a Volvo – the PV544 - in 1959, and which has been credited with saving well over one million lives over the last 50 years.
Volvo engineer Nils Bohlin invented the V-shaped three-point safety belt in the late 1950s, and it has been a standard feature on the front and rear seats of all Volvo cars as far back as 1967, prior to any other car. To this day, the three-point safety belt remains the car's single most important safety feature. It is the most widely used and most significant safety innovation in the automobile's more than 120 year long history.
“The three-point safety belt has been saving lives for 50 years, and it will continue to save lives for the foreseeable future,” stated Wisam Alawi, Volvo Brand Manager in Jordan, who went on to say, “Volvo and Mahmoudia Motors recommends that every car occupant should wear a seat belt as every percentage of increased usage makes a difference and saves more lives.”
According to the National Center for Statistics and Analysis, it is estimated that in the USA each percentage increase in belt usage would save 270 lives a year. Studies by the Global Road Safety Partnership (GRSP) concerning Europe show that another 7000 lives would be saved if all EU countries increased their usage of the seat belt. With the increasing number of cars in the Arab world, it is estimated that thousands of lives around the region would be saved if more people wore seatbelts.
