Apparently Ford has some geek employees that are obsessed with safety.   Certain Ford models  are soon to roll out with airbag-equipped seatbelts

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These high-tech seatbelts, said to help reduce injuries during an accident, will first be available on the Ford Explorer, and then other models as time goes by.   In the event of a collision,  the seat belt will inflate in just 40 milliseconds with compressed cold gas, much in the same way that our standard airbags work today,and stays inflated for several seconds.  According to Ford, the increased diameter of the inflated seat belt “helps spread the force of an impact across a wider area of the passenger’s body, which dampens the pressure and reduces the risk of injury”.  This also keeps your body in the appropriate position (if there is such a think during a collision) so as to help prevent neck and chest injuries.

According to research, the new inflatable seat belts  are  more comfortable, as well.  This is rather critical, I would think, as this new technology is only beneficial if the consumer actually buckles up…

And now, the statistics (after all, this is a geek blog):

Currently, only 61% of rear seat passengers use seat belts, and only 82% of front seat passengers use them according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.  These statistics are actually the reason that it has taken so long to introduce this technology.

View the originial story here.

(all images courtesy Ford.com)

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