Ford Company to Bring Inflatable Seat Belts to Consumer Market

The Ford Company made a major announcement that will change the way that we view airbags forever. We view airbags as these big, puffy cloud bags that explode out of the front and passenger steering wheels and dashboards. However, this view is about to change with the implementation of seat belt airbags. These seat belts are being implemented in the upcoming 2010 Ford Explorer that will hit market within the next couple of weeks.

Perhaps the best thing about this invention is that everyone in the vehicle will become more safe. The reason for this is because many car models currently lack proper airbag placement for the backseat passengers. Currently, the only way you can get these airbags is by upgrading your vehicle model. With Ford's inflatable seat belts, every passenger will have an airbag built into their seat belt. The end result is less chaotic impact onto your body during most accidents that can occur.

You might be questioning how these seat belts work. Luckily, I was able to see one of these models a few months before they hit the market. The seat belts look normal at first glance. To be completely honest, you would never guess that the seat belts were air bagged equipped. What happens is quit simple and very similar to the current air bag system (which leaves you wondering why a company did not create these sooner). Once a car experiences serious impact, the seat belt will inflate, making it look like you are holding some sort of pillow across your body. The airbag itself is very soft and will help ease the impact you will experience when it first goes off.

The one negative about the release of these new luxury in Ford vehicles is that they took too long to bring it to the market. Several other companies are nearing the completion of similar technologies and will be releasing them in the upcoming years. The bright side to this is that we all become a bit more safe in the process. Let's all hope that this great invention leads to less fatalities and more people believing that wearing a seat belt is not all that bad.

Source:

(1) Own experience