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Ford Unveils Inflatable Rear Seat Belts
Nov 05 2009 by Jennifer Newman
Ford has taken two life-saving devices — the seat belt and airbag — and combined them into a new safety feature, the inflatable seat belt. This new technology would give backseat passengers — most often our children — extra protection in a crash. What parent wouldn’t want more protection for their most precious cargo?
Inflatable seat belts, which are only for the rear seats, spread the force of a crash over a greater area of the body than conventional seat belts, according to Ford. This helps reduce chest pressure caused by the seat belt and controls head and neck motion in a crash.
Just as importantly, inflatable seat belts are safe to use with child-safety seats and booster seats.
“We ensured that it was harmless,” Srini Sundararajan, Ford’s technical leader of research and advanced engineering, told USA Today. “One of the extreme conditions we tested was a sleeping child situation, where the child puts his head on the seat belt and sleeps. We tested that, and it works great. We didn’t see any cause for concern.”
These airbags gently inflate with cold compressed gas that flows through a specially designed buckle from a cylinder that’s under the seat. Using cold compressed gas instead of the usual heat-generating chemical reaction that’s in airbags means the person wearing the seat belt won’t be hurt when the airbag inflates.
An accordion-folded airbag breaks through the belt’s fabric as it fills up, expanding sideways across the passenger’s body.
There’s another plus to this new technology: It’s more comfortable than traditional seat belts. The new seat belts are covered in softer webbing and feel cushioned.
“It feels a lot different; it’s softer and more lightly woven,” Susan Cischke, Ford’s vice president of sustainability, environmental and safety engineering, told USA Today. “When we asked people to sample them, they said it feels less rigid and more comfortable.
Inflatable seat belts will first be offered on the next-generation Ford Explorer, most likely for the 2011 model year. Ford plans to incorporate the new safety feature into its lineup worldwide. I can’t wait to try out these softer, safer seat belts on my kids
only 60% of people wear their safety belt sitting in the back seat? That is ridiculously low.