Emily Chan
There were also other inventions, including a safety belt in 1958 that featured two straps for keeping car doors closed during a collision, which would decrease the chances of severe injury.
The most major innovation was the three-point seatbelt in 1959. Nils Bohlin developed the three-point lap and shoulder seatbelt. At the time, he was the first chief safety engineer for Volvo.
Bohlin’s seatbelt secured the upper and lower parts of the body and buckled below the hip. His design has remained the foundation of seatbelts in today’s vehicles.
Volvo incorporated the seatbelt design into all their vehicles and made the design available for free to other car manufacturers. The three-point seatbelt became a requirement in American vehicles starting in 1968.
Congress passed the National Traffic and Motor Safety Act in 1966 to set new standards for motor vehicle and road safety.
New York was the first state to pass a mandatory seatbelt law in 1984. It gave authorities the right to pull someone over and give them a fine for not wearing a seatbelt.
Some people resisted the safety feature, claiming that seatbelts violated their rights. Despite the protests, it was clear that seatbelts were effective in protecting drivers and passengers during car accidents.
By 1994, all states had some sort of law about wearing seatbelts. Currently, only New Hampshire does not require adults to wear seatbelts in the front seat.
