The article, “How Ford's Inflatable Seatbelt Will Save Lives ” introduces Ford’s new addition to their 2011 Ford Explorer—an
inflatable seatbelt. The seatbelt blows up within 40 milliseconds; soon enough
to save the lives of the backseat passengers.
It
is only natural that when a company takes the risk of implementing new
technology there will be pros and cons. Taking into account that this invention
is merely for the safety of the public, I believe there are more pros than cons.
Firstly,
the inflatable seatbelt has additional cushion, so it is said to be more
comfortable. Seatbelt usage has
increased from 11% in 1981 to about 85% in 2012. This is a result of law
enforcement, advertisements, and education (Motor Vehicle Safety). The promise of additional comfort provided
by the new seatbelt will encourage the remaining 15% to wear a seatbelt. Therefore,
without the airbag-feature being put into effect, the rider is already safer
than when they did not wear the seatbelt. Plus, everyone loves to try out the
“cool new inventions,” so the percentage of people wearing a seatbelt will
ideally increase due to curiosity.
Secondly,
the seatbelt and the airbag are the two ways to reduce harm when in an
accident. The only problem is: the person in the backseat cannot benefit from
the airbag. They have to rely on the seatbelt alone, but even then there are
cases when the material of the seatbelt combined with the impact of the crash
have caused internal bleeding. The inflatable seatbelt will protect the
backseat passenger as effectively as the standard airbag. This is a reassuring
invention for passengers of all ages.
However,
one major downside I noticed was that currently only Ford is being proactive
about incorporating the inflatable seatbelt. Mercedes has made plans to incorporate
it into their new line of cars but are still in the works. The problem is that
new cars are expensive enough, but with the added security, prices may increase
significantly. Only those who can afford the new car will be able to benefit
from the product. Safety should be equally accessible for every class in
society. Hopefully within time they will be put into less expensive cars.
The
inflatable seatbelt will also benefit young children. Some parents put their
children in the front seat to have them by their side, or so they can have the
security of the air bag—even if the airbag is too powerful. The inflatable
seatbelt enables the child to sit in the back seat, avoid the powerful mass of
the regular airbag and feel secured by the affective inflatable seatbelt.
To conclude, Ford
is currently the only company to offer the groundbreaking invention. They have
hopefully started a trend and changed the direction of newly produced cars,
with safety at the forefront. If it proves to be a success, there is a good
chance it could become a mandatory feature for all cars.
Article: http://www.businessinsider.com/how-fords-inflatable-seatbelt-will-save-lives-2012-8
http://www.cdc.gov/motorvehiclesafety/seatbeltbrief/index.html
I think this topic is an interesting one, but also one that can be easily overlooked. For me personally, I never really thought of seatbelts or other safety measures as technology. The seatbelt seems so standard that I think it is easy to just assume that it will always be there and be reliable. Yet, this article opened my eyes to the possibility of improving the seatbelt. It never occurred to me that anything could be done to enhance the safety features of the seatbelt. I was looking at Ford’s website and was interested in the description of the new technology. They explained, “Vehicle safety sensors determine the severity of the collision in the blink of an eye and deploy the inflatable belts’ airbags. Each belt’s tubular airbag inflates with cold compressed gas, which flows through a specially designed buckle from a cylinder housed below the seat” (media.ford.com). I think that this advancement in safety is positive for the future. Safety is something that people will always be concerned with, and I think the inflatable seatbelt will catch on to other car companies and catch the interest of any potential car buyers.
ReplyDeleteHowever, there was one thing that concerned me after learning of Ford’s new initiative to create safer and more comfortable seatbelts. I was curious about the impact of the seatbelts when deployed. I know that in some cases, airbags in the front of the car can cause injuries when deployed, such as a broken nose. This made me wonder if the deployment of the airbag in the seatbelt could cause any damage to the chest. I found a review of Ford’s inflatable seatbelts that explained the potential impact of the new seatbelts. “Ford says the seatbelt airbags are programmed to inflate at a lower impact force than would cause the front airbags to deploy, although the seatbelt airbags are also much less traumatic than the front airbags” (reviews.cnet.com). This reassured me that these new seatbelts could be exactly the thing that decreases serious injury or death during an accident. Ford also explained why these news seatbelts are safer since the force of the impact will be spread over a larger area. “The inflated belt helps distribute crash force energy across five times more of the occupant’s torso than a traditional belt, which expands its range of protection and reduces risk of injury by diffusing crash pressure over a larger area, while providing additional support to the head and neck”(media.ford.com).
Although I did not previously associate seatbelts as a form of technology, I see how the evolution of something as simply as a seatbelt can be beneficial for humans all over the world. Hopefully this advancement will gain the attention it deserves and will be more widely seen in cars throughout the world to ensure safety for everyone in a car.
Sources:
http://media.ford.com/article_display.cfm?article_id=31360
http://reviews.cnet.com/8301-13746_7-20007136-48.html