Seatbelt turns 50

2009 marks the 50th birthday of the seatbelt. To celebrate Taupo District Council is launching a new seatbelt campaign aimed at encouraging drivers and passengers to wear their seatbelts.

 

The simple but intelligent V-shaped three-point seatbelt design was invented on 13 August 1959 by Volvo engineer Nils Bohlin. Volvo kept the patent open, granting free use of the design to all other car manufacturers at the time. Volvo estimates that the seatbelt has saved more than a million lives, and has saved many times more people from serious injury.

 

Research indicates that wearing a seatbelt improves a vehicle occupant’s chance of surviving a crash by 40 percent. The new seatbelt campaign runs from mid September to the end of October, and targets all age groups, with a special focus on children’s car seats and booster seats.

 

Taupo Police Senior Sergeant Fane Troy said that while good gains with safety belt wearing-rates have been made over the past few years, the national average of 5% non-wearing is still too high. “The message is getting through, but unfortunately some people are still not listening, and that’s just not good enough,” said Sgt Troy.

 

Adult drivers will be the target of a new billboard campaign, which highlights the importance of wearing seatbelts even on short trips, such as to the shops or picking the kids up from school. A high number of fatal road accidents occur within a close proximity to people’s homes.

 

Taupo district’s compliance rate for children being properly restrained in vehicles is 65 percent, which is similar to the rest of New Zealand. Taupo District Council Road Safety Coordinator Christine Hutchison says this too needs improving. “Children are obviously smaller than adults and parents need to understand that their requirements for proper restraint in a vehicle are quite different to ours.”

 

According to new facts from NZTA, children do not fit an adult seatbelt until they are at least 148cm tall. The impact of wearing a regular seatbelt in a crash can have serious impacts on the neck and spine of a child. A specific campaign focussing on booster seats will hit schools at the end of October.