MEET NILS BOHLIN
You use it dozens of times a week. And without question, it saves your life each time. It’s the automobile seat belt. More specifically, the three-point lap and shoulder seat belt.
Until 1958, cars only had two-point lap belts that just went around the waist. But they failed to protect the chest area of the driver and passengers and often caused severe body and head injuries when a crash occurred.
Enter Nils Bohlin, the Volvo Car Corporation’s first chief safety engineer.
Born in Härnösand, Sweden, Mr. Bohlin earned a degree in mechanical engineering. He then worked for Saab as an aircraft designer, developing ejector seats and pilot rescue systems for the company’s fighter airplanes.
In 1958, Mr. Bohlin joined Volvo, where his previous experience served him well in designing the three-point seat belt (although airplanes used four-point belts, he knew that such a design wouldn’t be appropriate for automobiles). Mr. Bohlin found a way to secure the upper and lower body, with the straps holding them safely by buckling into what Mr. Bohlin referred to as “an immovable anchorage point” below the hip. According to Mr. Bohlin, “It was just a matter of finding a solution that was simple, effective, and could be put on conveniently with one hand.”
Mr. Bohlin’s insistence on one-hand usage was critical to his design. He said, “The pilots I worked with were willing to put on almost anything to keep them safe in case of a crash, but regular people in cars don’t want to be uncomfortable even for a minute.”
In 1959, Volvo introduced the three-point seat belt in its automobiles. In an effort to maximize automobile safety, Volvo offered the innovative design to other car manufacturers—at no cost. (That’s pretty rare; generally, companies competing for sales and customer loyalty will keep such important breakthroughs to themselves.) It’s estimated that injuries sustained from crashes declined by 90 percent with the introduction of Mr. Bohlin’s invention, and that well over one million lives have been saved since the three-point seat belt was first installed in cars.
Mr. Bohlin worked at Volvo until 1985, and he was inducted into the Automobile Hall of Fame in 1999. He was also welcomed into the National Inventors Hall of Fame in Akron, Ohio, on the day he died in 2002.
“We believe that he was a great inventor; an inventor with a conscience that made great contributions to road safety,” said Victor Doolan, chief executive and president of Volvo Cars of North America. “There is a little bit of Nils Bohlin in every car.”
I think seat belts are so important, I spent some time coming up with slogans to tell everyone about Mr. Bohlin’s invention. What do you think of these?
IF YOU BUCKLE UP FOR SAFETY, I WILL YELL, “HIP-HIP-HOORAFETY!”
BUCKLE UP, ’CAUSE THAT’S THE LAW… AND I’LL GIVE YOU SOME TASTY COLE SLAW!
IF YOU FORGET TO BUCKLE, YOU’LL SURELY BE IN TRUCKLE.
REMEMBER TO BUCKLE YOUR SEAT BELT… I ASKED THE BUTCHER HOW RAW MEAT FELT.
GRAB THE BUCKLE, MAKE IT SNAP, OR ELSE YOU ARE JUST FULL OF CR—
Never mind. It’s hard to write a slogan. But it’s easy to remember this:
BUCKLE UP EACH AND EVERY TIME YOU’RE IN A MOVING VEHICLE!
Hey, that’s not a bad slogan!
