Historical Review of Automatic Seat Belt Restraint Systems

Following early rulemaking by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration requiring passive occupant crash protection for occupants in vehicles covered by Motor Vehicle Safety Standard 208, intensive development began on passive seatbelts as promising alternatives to the inflatable systems being considered. The general types of passive seatbelt systems are identified. Passive systems that have been offered to date as optional installations in production car lines are described, as well as the production models being introduced in Model Year 1987 car lines in response to recent rulemaking. Design considerations are discussed. Recent usage rates of installed passive systems and manual belt systems are compared.