Energy & Industry / Transport & Mobility

Seat Belts, Airbags & Crash Safety

Volvo's three-point belt (1959) and later airbags cut crash deaths: in the US alone belts saved an estimated 14,955 lives in 2017, yet road crashes still kill about 1.16 million people a year.

Nils Bohlin's three-point belt was fitted to a Volvo from August 1959 and Volvo left the patent open for other makers; belts cut the risk of death for occupants by up to 50% (WHO). Airbags (US patent 1953) reached production cars in the 1970s and Mercedes' S-Class in 1981; US law required dual front airbags from 1998, by when chip-based accelerometers had replaced mechanical crash sensors. NHTSA estimates that belts saved 14,955 lives and frontal airbags 2,790 in the US in 2017. Road crashes are still the leading cause of death for people aged 5 to 29 worldwide.