Do you leave the house without your belt bearing the first letter or initials of a luxury brand on your waist? Forget your bag with the highly visible brand promoted by that famous influencer with millions of followers? Can’t go out on the street without your top sneakers with big lettering? The most important safety accessory when we get behind the wheel should be displayed with the same pride as all the fashion accessories we never forget. because it may depend on us being able to continue showing off that other belt, bag or sneakers we’re so excited about.
Given the statistics from the end of summer, it seems that the car safety item that has saved the most lives worldwide needs to become a luxury accessory so that we always wear it. We forget all too easily that the greatest and most valuable luxury is life itself, because the figures published by the General Directorate for Transport after the summer are once again devastating. 25% of those killed in traffic accidents during the summer of 2023 were not wearing a seatbelt, a number that appears to be constant year after year, barely fluctuating between 25 and 26%. Not even more than half a century of DGT campaigns insisting on the use of this basic but vital safety system are helping to prevent the deaths that add to this sad statistic.
This is shown The seat belt reduces the risk of dying in a traffic accident by 50% and even by 77% in a rollover. On urban routes that seem “not very dangerous” to us, the seat belt can reduce the risk of serious injury by five times when worn. The DGT’s historical data is frightening and, for example, if everyone who suffered a serious accident in 1988 had worn it, the loss of as many as 700 people could have been avoided.
More than half a century of campaigns
As early as the beginning of the 1970s, when there was no obligation to wear a seatbelt, the DGT began to recommend that seatbelts be compulsory in the city. Exactly in 2021, the DGT found the television commercial in which a Seat 127 appeared as the protagonist. Since then The DGT’s promotional activities have varied in nature, from the least aggressive and merely informative to those aimed at “exciting” our conscience and emotions.
During the same years, authorities around the world, particularly in Europe, also worked to ensure that vehicle occupants wore seat belts. One of the strangest campaigns we found is the one run by the German Ministry of Transport through the streets of Bonn in late 1976. A woman sat in a car seat, but on the roof of a Citroën DS Break, with her seatbelt fastened, to demonstrate the effectiveness and necessity of being securely fastened to the vehicle seat, the only way to ensure safety.
Mandatory since 1975
The three-point seat belt was invented in 1959 by Nills Bohlin, a Volvo engineer, and as of that year some of his models were already mounted as standard on the front seats. These first belts were much simpler in terms of operation and adjustment than today’s ones, but their effectiveness was undisputed. In later years it became a standard feature in luxury vehicles, but only on the front seats, while a large proportion of the most popular cars did not even have it. In Spain, wearing seat belts has been compulsory since 1975, but only in the front seats and in traffic, but not in the city.
It took another 18 years and many thousands of deaths on our roads and highways before they became mandatory on all types of routes, in urban and intercity traffic, and in all car seats in 1992.. It is often forgotten how important it is for rear seat passengers to wear their seat belts. If they fail to do this, the consequences for themselves and the front seat occupants could be very serious. The clearest example is the accident of Diana from Wales in 1997. as the only survivor was the occupant of the right front seat, who was wearing a seatbelt, because neither Diana nor Dodi Al-Fayed, who was sitting in the back seat, were wearing them. Even Barbie, the oldest of the “influencers,” was aware of the importance of the seat belt and had this important device installed as standard in her cars as early as 1980.
From the first belts that dragged on the floor of the car and had to be adjusted to the size of each occupant to today’s belts, there is a universe of evolution. They are now rollable and have intelligent belt tensioners that, in combination with the airbag, tighten the belt in different phases in the event of an accident. In some models they are “brought closer” by a mechanical arm to make installation more comfortable, in others they have an automatic adjustment system and even begin to illuminate the clasp to make it easier to see where it needs to be hooked .
Seat belt pretensioners are the devices with which seat belts are equipped to vary the tension of the band that holds us according to the needs of the moment. The most sophisticated systems are already connected to the rest of our car’s safety systems and position the passenger in an optimal position in the event of a possible accident so that the seat belt and airbags work properly. The new function of the belt is that it becomes a preventative warning system, as it can warn the driver of potentially dangerous driving or of fatigue or inattention while driving through a haptic signal with small “pulls”.
A minimum of care
According to AECA-ITV data 3% of all serious defects found on Spanish ITV channels last year concern the interior equipment section, which includes the seat belt. The vehicles with the most defects in this section are buses and coaches at 8.3%, followed by cars and taxis at 3.2% each.
The seat belt also requires a little attention to ensure it works properly. Check that the winding system is not blocked, that the tapes are in good condition, that there is no dirt that could clog the tape and that the tape has no cuts, deformations or tears. Check that the clasp closes and releases easily If we have suffered an accident, even if it does not have serious consequences, it must be replaced because it has certainly lost part of its retention capacity.. Surely your branded belt, your luxury bag or your fashionable sneakers will receive much more care than the other belt in your car that is less attractive but can save your life.
