Seat belt
Cinturón de seguridad
- Date
- 1885–1930s · confidence low
- Place
- New York, United States
- Credited to
- Edward Claghorn (1885 patent); aviation (Benjamin Foulois, 1911); Nash and Ford as an option (1949-1955); three-point belt, Nils Bohlin (Volvo, 1959)
- People
- 👤 Paul Nash1889–1946
- Field
- Movement
⚠️ Disputed: the sources disagree.
What it is
Strap that holds the occupant to the seat, first for taxis and aviators. Rare until after the war, its wider adoption halved road deaths.
Claghorn's patent predates the automobile and its use is uncertain; real adoption came from aviation in the 1910s-30s.
What it led to
- Passive safety and traffic legislation
- Crash engineering and crash tests
- Three-point seat belt and airbag
Built on
Made possible
- Crumple zone (Barényi)1952
- Three-point seat belt1959
- Electronic ABS and production airbag1978-1981
- Three-point seatbelt
- Child car seat