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Many millions of people have been saved from death or serious injury over the past 50 years by the humble three-point seatbelt. It is no exaggeration to say it is the single biggest safety advance in the history of motoring.
Airbags look sexier and ESP stability control can prevent a car from crashing in the first place, but the installation of three-point safety belts from 1959 was the move that stopped people being thrown around car cabins like a golf ball in a bathroom any time there was even a minor fender-bender.
In Australia, seatbelts have done better than anywhere else because Victoria led the world with their first compulsory use. And since then the country has been at the front on back-seat use, baby restraints and - most recently - booster seats for toddlers.
"It's incredibly significant. In all the things we've done, nothing has made such a step forward as the seatbelt," says Laurie Sparke, who led the safety team at GM Holden until his retirement and is recognised as one of Australia's most talented and committed engineers.
"If I can remember my numbers now, a lap-sash belt allows an occupant to survive 40 per cent of crashes that otherwise would have been fatal. An airbag adds another 20 per cent."
Sparke is so convinced about seatbelts that he can rattle off the basic history without thinking. "It was 1959. The man who invented them was a Swede, Nils Bohlin," says Sparke.
He is right and Bohlin gets special thanks this week, as the 50th anniversary of his seat belt was yesterday. His invention is even recognised as one of the eight patents to have the greatest significance for humanity during the century from 1885 to 1985. Bohlin did the belt job while working for Volvo, in a move which helped cement the company's commitment to safety. It's been at the front or close to the front, sharing a lot of the honours with Mercedes-Benz, ever since.
In recent years a lot of companies have been touting their safety credentials, with Renault pushing hard on ESP and Subaru strong on the benefits of all-wheel drive, but when most people think about safety they think of Volvo.
What makes the seat belt work, and work so well, is that it is simple and easy to use. It only takes one hand to fasten and developments over the past 50 years have mostly been centred on making it more convenient.
"In reality, the only things that have happened in 50 years have been convenience things to encourage people to wear them," says Sparke. "The fixed stalk makes the buckle easier to find, the retractable belt makes it easy to wear, adjustable top mounts make it more comfortabe. It was not until the pre-tensioner that the performance improved."
Changes to seatbelts have been extensive, from the location systems to the way they are mounted and even the types of webbing. BMW is one of the coupe companies that now has a retractable arm to bring the belt to the driver and passenger, several companies mount their belts with the buckle on the outside in the rear to give better protection, and Mercedes even mounts the belt to the seat instead of the body structure in its SL.
Not surprisingly, the automotive seatbelt was transferred from aviation. The first aircraft with a lap safety belt was flown by Adolphe Pegoud, who was one of the first pilots to fly upside down. Many cars had lap belts from the 1920s, but it took Bohlin and Volvo - which, like Benz, makes its patents available free-of-charge - to get the belt convenient and accepted.
Laurie Sparke can still remember his first seatbelt experience. "My very first car, the first thing I did was go out and buy some seatbelts. Unfortunately, the reason I put them in was so I could drive faster," he says. "The belts meant I didn't have to hang onto the steering wheel in my MG TC when I was going around corners. At age 18 I was infallible so I didn't need to be protected."
The Australian move to the belt era came in 1970, with Victoria's landmark legislation, and traffic fatalities in the first year dropped by 18 per cent. NSW was next with compulsory belt wearing the following year, and today everyone except taxi drivers is legally required to wear seatbelts front and back, and even in buses. Many other countries have similar legislation, although in some states in the USA belt wearing runs at less than five per cent.
The future of the seatbelt looks secure, although moves to boost protection with four or five-point harnesses have always failed because they are difficult to use. Some brands are even working on a seatbelt with a built-in airbag. In Volvo's case, there is ongoing research into a four-point belt that is easy to wear, as well as a motorised belt that tightens the belt and places the driver in the right position in potentially hazardous situations.
Fifty years into the life of the seatbelt it also has a safety mandate which runs through the core of the company. It's Mobility 2020 Vision is to ensure no occupant of any Volvo car will be seriously or fatally injured in a crash by the year 2020.
MOTORING SAFETY MILESTONES:
1944 Laminated windscreen
1959 Three-point seat belts in the front 1960 Padded instrument panel
1966 Twin-circuit triangular backup braking system
1966 Crumple zones
1967 Seat belts in the rear
1968 Head restraints front
1969 Three-point inertia-reel seat belts in the front
1972 Three-point seat belts in the rear
1973 Energy-absorbing steering column
1974 Energy-absorbing bumpers
1974 Petrol tank relocated for enhanced safety
1982 Wide-angle door mirrors
1984 ABS, anti-locking brakes
1986 High-mount brake lights
1987 Seat belt pre-tensioner
1987 Driver's airbag
1991 SIPS, side impact collision protection
1998 Curtain airbags
1998 Dynamic Stability and Traction Control 2000 ISOFIX attachments for child seats 2000 Two-stage airbag
2002 Development of virtual "pregnant" crash-test dummy
2004 BLIS, blind spot warning
2006 Adaptive Cruise Control
2006 Collision warning with brake support
2006 Active Bi-Xenon headlamps
2007 Driver Alert Control
2007 Lane Departure Warning
2008 City Safety, low speed collision avoidance
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