Airbag deploys from seatbelt
Stuart Schwartzapfel -
WIRED - November 5th, 2009
Nice to see safe cars get even safer. --Ed.
Riding shotgun lost some its luster today when Ford announced the industry’s first inflatable seat belts, which it claims will provide five times the protection of a conventional belt and could increase the number of back-seat passengers who buckle up.
The technology is designed to give additional protection to those in the back seat, especially kids and seniors who are more vulnerable to serious injury during a crash. The new system, essentially a mashup of airbags and seat belts, will appear as an option when the next-gen 2011 Explorer begins production next year.
“We have taken the top two life-saving devices and brought them to the next level,” Dr. Srini Sundararajan, Ford’s head of research and advance engineering, said in announcing the technology today....
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