Ford at the North American International Auto Show in Detroit will showcase a new inflatable seat belt technology designed to protect backseat passengers. Ford, however, is also starting to look at what happens in the backseat during an accident. Using advances in air bag inflation and construction, Ford engineers have developed a small, tubular-shaped inflatable bag that can deploy inside a shoulder belt in the event of a crash. This patent-pending inflatable safety belt system has potential to cover the entire bodily area where the belt makes contact with the torso. The expected result is a further reduction in head and neck injury risk.
The inflatable safety belt technology is unique in many ways:
- The inflated portion of the safety belt across the shoulder and upper chest may be able to limit motion of the head in a crash, with the potential to reduce head and neck injuries.
- Inflating the area alongside the torso belt may provide many of the same benefits as pretensioner devices – tightening the shoulder and lap belts before crash forces are transmitted, positioning the person in relation to other safety devices in the vehicle.
- The broader contact area of the inflatable safety belt has the potential to spread impact forces across the chest, further reducing the changes of injury.
BeltMinder for Second-Row Occupants
Ford ’s concepts will also contain an advanced version of its innovative BeltMinder system – one that extends into the backseat.
The company’s patented BeltMinder technology goes farther than the federally required safety belt reminder chiming system. In Ford vehicles, the driver or front passenger who remains unbuckled is regularly reminded to buckle up.
The system chimes and flashes a warning lamp for six seconds every 30 seconds for five minutes, or until the driver buckles up, whichever comes first. The second-row BeltMinderâ„¢ technology will now be able to alert the driver when second row passengers have not buckled their safety belts.
Research conducted by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety showed that safety belt use was five percentage points higher in vehicles with BeltMinder. And, government research shows that more than 3,000 lives could be saved and thousands of injuries could be prevented annually if the nationwide safety belt use rate climbed to 90 percent. According to recent data released by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, today’s safety belt use is 82 percent.
