TECH: SPECIALIST
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When it comes to automotive safety features, few innovations boast as much success as the humble seat belt. Slide into the seat, pull the belt across your torso and twist the ignition key. We do it without thinking. If we somehow forget, the strange sensation of unrestrained driving can leave us feeling ‘naked’ behind the wheel, leading us to reach for that comforting cross-body embrace. As essential and familiar as the seat belt is today, however, things haven't always been this way. In fact, when the concept was initially conceived, many automotive manufacturers were avidly against it.“Back in the late 1940s and early 1950s, car makers were of the opinion offering seat belts as an option — let alone standard equipment — would give the impression their vehicles were unsafe,” explains Stuart Quick, Managing Director of Quickfit Safety Belt Service (quickfitsbs.com). “Even when seat belts were offered as a factory extra, only two percent of car buyers chose them. OEMs fitting them as standard, meanwhile, were met with countless customer requests demanding removal.”
Early seat belt designs were far removed from the three-point, pretensioner-equipped items we have in our cars today. Taking the form of static-mounted lap belts, often with an aircraft-style buckle mechanism, these simple devices were crude,this rudimentary equipment is a massive step up from having no belts at all.
