Back in 2011, the Ford Explorer in North America was fitted with an inflatable belt designed to reduce head, neck and chest injuries for rear-seat passengers, often children and the older group who are more vulnerable to such injuries.
This technology is now being fitted across the Mondeo range (which we may or may not get in Thailand).
In the event of an accident, the belt rapidly expands to disperse crash forces across a body area five times greater than that achieved by a conventional seatbelt.
Sensors trigger the release of compressed gas out of a cylinder housed below the rear seat, through the buckle and into the belt.
Ford’s inflatable seat belt.
The Inflatable Rear Seatbelt is fully deployed down the length of the lower side of the seatbelt away from the face in less than 40 milliseconds.
The Inflatable Rear Seatbelts have been tested extensively using the Ford crash test dummy family and it has been proven to offer extra protection over the standard rear seatbelt system.
The inflatable belts operate like conventional seatbelts in everyday use and, in Ford’s research, more than 90 percent of those who tested the inflatable seatbelts found them to be similar to or more comfortable than a conventional belt because they feel padded and softer.
Good idea Mr. Ford, but why stop at the Mondeo? I’m sure the Fiesta and the Focus would benefit from this technology.
