Ford is producing the motor industry’s first ever inflatable rear seat belts.
The new seatbelts combine the best of both traditional seat belts and air bags as the seat belt is set to deploy only 40ms after a crash, so that the impact of the crash is distributed across the body by more than five times more area.
This in turn reduces the chance of injury from a collision.
Airbags have been able to keep those in the front seat safe for a long time, but now Ford hopes to bring the same type of safety to back seat occupants who tend to be older passengers or children who have a higher chance of injury.
Although the new inflatable seat belts fit differently across the body Ford states that a good majority of their research class stated that the seat belts are as comfortable if not more comfortable than normal seat belts.
The new inflatable belts will premier next year on the Ford Explorer America SUV and will eventually be offered worldwide, although Ford did not offer a date.
