It saves the lives of millions of people every day, but the seatbelt still keeps its little secrets.
No car with passengers on board can be considered safe on a public road and open to traffic without the use of a seat belt, even if the car is stationary. Since its integration into cars in its modern form, saves tens of thousands of drivers and passengers every day. Without its use, other subsystems, such as airbags, for example, are not only practically useless, but can become dangerous for the integrity of the driver and passengers. The Englishman George Cayley is the one who invented the first safety belt in the middle of the 19th century for use in the gliders of the time.
For use in cars, American Edward J. Claghome is credited with inventing the two-point (around the waist) seat belt in four-wheeled car history in 1885 , who found this way to keep taxi passengers in their seats.
The modern three-point seat belt was invented by Swede Nils Bohlin in 1958, the first year he worked for Volvo, which immediately applied this technology to its models, changing the game in car safety. in the whole world.
Of course, although the seat belt is an “object” with which we all come into daily contact, most of us may not be aware of certain basic principles of its operation and the role played by its various elements. . A typical example is the plastic button that is on every seat belt, hardly anyone knows what makes it so indispensable.
Although that plastic piece looks like a button, in reality it’s nothing more than a stopper that essentially prevents the belt buckle from succumbing to the law of gravity and ending up on the floor of the car, making its extraction and use much more difficult and time-consuming.
Indeed, if you look closely, you will see that when the seat belt is not in use, the metal buckle is located at the very top. Take a closer look and you’ll see that it’s the little button that holds it in place. And lets you grab it without having to look for it.
When we look at the button once the belt is on, we wonder what it is for and we feel like wanting to tear it off. One is very hard. Two, it would be doing yourself a disservice! In fact, the fact that every day, with a simple movement of the hand, you can put on your seat belt is due to this piece of plastic.