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Volvo Car Corporation, Sweden and Ford Motor Company, USA are collaborating on what could be next most important safety feature– a four point seat belt. The team is headed out of Sweden by Christer Gustafsson, VCC Senior Safety Engineer and David Wagner, FMC Safety Technical Specialist. The advantages of a four-point seat belt are that they distribute the crash forces over more of the chest which reduces the pressure on the ribcage, heart and lungs. They also help hold the occupant in place during crashes that put limitiations on todays belt designs.
Two new innovative styles are being evaluated: the “X4” design and the “V4" design. Both have the same objective yet with different unique solutions. Volvo “X4” belt system utilizes a standard three-point belt plus a single belt that comes over the shoulder, down across the torso and attaches near the lap belt buckle. The Volvo “V4” is a modified design with roots in automobile racing. Occupant fitting is as simple as putting on a backpack. It’s as simple as ‘over the shoulder/over the shoulder and click. Both designs have shown to be effective in rollover and side impact during laboratory tests.
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