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05 Aug 2009, 7:36 am
From Eskilstuna Kuriren, 5th of August 2009. (Crappy translation by Henriksson 
)
Quote:
13th of August 1959 was the premier showing of a Volvo PV 544 in Karlstad. The unique aspect of this car was that it was the first car in the world with three point belt as standard equipment.
Volvo's founders - Assar Gabrielssion and Gustav Larsson - had one goal: "Cars are driven by people. The basic principle behind all we do must always be security".
When Gunnar Egellau become new vice director 1956 he wanted Volvo to expand in USA. Security would be an important part of the car's image. He managed to charm Nils Bohlin to work with them, who was SAAB's best flight engineer. Bohlin had worked with how to protect pilots in the cockpit. At Volvo he got the task to solve the problems of how to keep the driver in the place at a crash in the best possible way.
After a couple months of testing he reached the conclusion that a strong belt connected at three points would work best. One cord would go over the breast and protect the torso, while the other one would go over the hips.
Comfortable and safe
At Volvo they were skeptical about whether it would become popular for a driver to struggle with a strong security belt. Bohlin was certain that comfort and agility was the key to success. "My construction works as much because it's comfortable as it is safe", Bohlin said in 1958 when the patent of his revolutionary invention had been granted.
A year later was the seat belt, produced by the company Auto Liv, standard equipment in Volvo PV 544 and Volvo Amazon. Auto Liv was founded in a garage in Vårgårda 1953 and they made their first seat belt of a necklace for bulls.
Security scientists has estimated that the three point belt has reduced the risk to be killed or be seriously harmed at a collision by about 50 percent. Also SAAB introduced the seat belt as standard equpment 1961.
But it would be until 1975 before the law of using seat belts in the front seat.
Great Resistance
A law was needed because the resistance at the beginning was greatly opposed against using what was popularly known as "the coward cord". Hans Johansson, today retired, worked at the traffic security ministry in Gothenburg as car inspector. He remembered the Swede's initial skepsis.
- People were afraid of having seat belt if the car would begin to burn or tip over the edge of a dock. Many believed it was enough to straighten out the arms at a collision! Because of that, SVT put huge resources into information campaigns. "Do you have an elephant in your back seat?" or the picture of a naked woman with a seat belt and bruises.
He remembered a particular moment in the summer of 1975 when he was on a routine control.
- I encountered a driver who was driving without a seat belt. I pointed out that he should have seat belt on, but he answered that the "law isn't put in power until Sunday".
Volvo's founders - Assar Gabrielssion and Gustav Larsson - had one goal: "Cars are driven by people. The basic principle behind all we do must always be security".
When Gunnar Egellau become new vice director 1956 he wanted Volvo to expand in USA. Security would be an important part of the car's image. He managed to charm Nils Bohlin to work with them, who was SAAB's best flight engineer. Bohlin had worked with how to protect pilots in the cockpit. At Volvo he got the task to solve the problems of how to keep the driver in the place at a crash in the best possible way.
After a couple months of testing he reached the conclusion that a strong belt connected at three points would work best. One cord would go over the breast and protect the torso, while the other one would go over the hips.
Comfortable and safe
At Volvo they were skeptical about whether it would become popular for a driver to struggle with a strong security belt. Bohlin was certain that comfort and agility was the key to success. "My construction works as much because it's comfortable as it is safe", Bohlin said in 1958 when the patent of his revolutionary invention had been granted.
A year later was the seat belt, produced by the company Auto Liv, standard equipment in Volvo PV 544 and Volvo Amazon. Auto Liv was founded in a garage in Vårgårda 1953 and they made their first seat belt of a necklace for bulls.
Security scientists has estimated that the three point belt has reduced the risk to be killed or be seriously harmed at a collision by about 50 percent. Also SAAB introduced the seat belt as standard equpment 1961.
But it would be until 1975 before the law of using seat belts in the front seat.
Great Resistance
A law was needed because the resistance at the beginning was greatly opposed against using what was popularly known as "the coward cord". Hans Johansson, today retired, worked at the traffic security ministry in Gothenburg as car inspector. He remembered the Swede's initial skepsis.
- People were afraid of having seat belt if the car would begin to burn or tip over the edge of a dock. Many believed it was enough to straighten out the arms at a collision! Because of that, SVT put huge resources into information campaigns. "Do you have an elephant in your back seat?" or the picture of a naked woman with a seat belt and bruises.
He remembered a particular moment in the summer of 1975 when he was on a routine control.
- I encountered a driver who was driving without a seat belt. I pointed out that he should have seat belt on, but he answered that the "law isn't put in power until Sunday".
Pictured above: Nils Bohlin testing his own invention 1959
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05 Aug 2009, 9:44 pm
