Next year, buyers of the Lexus LFA sports car will be even safer, thanks to a new kind of seatbelt designed by Takata Corp. The belt looks like any other, but contains an airbag that will inflate in case of a crash.
The belt is called the AirBelt, and will find its way into Toyota’s car under the much more boring name of “SRS Seat Belt Airbag”. The belt contains a bag inside its webbing, which is fired on impact by a gas-canister down by the buckle. The resulting bag protects the head and shoulder from side-on crashes, and also gets between the head and shoulder to stop sideways whiplash injuries.
Although this is not the first time airbag seatbelts have been in passenger cars (the first was the 2011 Ford Explorer), it’s a useful innovation and adds one more life-saving feature to these rolling death-boxes.
But as someone who is justifiably terrified of car travel, I think cars should be made more scary, not less. If these tin-cans let in the road noise and did away with all distractions (cup-holders, stereos, and anything else with a button), then people might actually realize just how dangerous their cars are and maybe pay some attention to the road ahead.
Takata First to Commercialize Safety “Airbelt” for Passenger Cars (PDF) [Takata]
See Also:
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- Cellphone Seatbelt Holster Promises Safety, Delivers Dorkiness …
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