Golden anniversary of three-point seat belt

More than one million lives were saved by the three-point safety belt, an invention created 50 years ago by Volvo engineer Nils Bohlin.Bohlin studied the safety belts used by jet fighter pilots and learnt that a more practical system was needed.Using the strongest parts of the body (the rib cage and the hip), the three-point seat belt was invented and is still in use today.

Volvo patented it but has made it clear that the device should be shared by all car manufacturers to make cars a safer mode of transportation.Volvo Car Malaysia organised a buka puasa event to disseminate the history of the three-point seat belt to the media.The company also took the opportunity to introduce its new president, Goran Larsson.

Larsson, 56, was president of Volvo Cars Taiwan for three years before taking over from Robert Norrman last July.Before Taiwan, Larsson had a stint as the president of the regional office for Volvo Car Turkey and Istanbul.Larsson announced that Volvo Cars Malaysia would be launching a safety campaign for pre-school in conjunction with the 50th anniversary of the seat belt.

Also present at the event was Datuk Suret Singh, director general of the Road Safety Department.Suret Singh said that the rear seat belt ruling has been implemented since last January."We are targeting the implementation of the rear seat belt among Malaysians to reach 85 per cent by year end," he said.The implementation of the front seat belt ruling among Malaysian road users has reached 95 per cent.