1959Reputable sourceWell documented
Volvo's Three-Point Seat Belt
On the timeline · around 1959 ·
What happened
In 1959 the Swedish engineer Nils Bohlin, Volvo's first safety engineer, patented the three-point seat belt — a single strap crossing the chest and lap that a driver could fasten with one hand and that restrained both the upper and lower body. Volvo made the patent freely available to every other carmaker so the design could save as many lives as possible.
Why it matters
The three-point belt is considered one of the most important safety devices ever invented; U.S. regulators estimate it saves thousands of lives and prevents over a hundred thousand injuries every year. Bohlin was inducted into the National Inventors Hall of Fame in 2002.
Sources
- National Inventors Hall of Fame. Nils I. Bohlin and the Safety Belt · Reputable source