Three-Point Safety Belt Saved More Than a Million Lives So Far

GOTHENBURG, SWEDEN – Saving a life can be so simple: grab, stretch, click! The three-point belt is and will remain the car’s most vital safety detail. However, even more lives could be saved if belt usage increased. According to Volvo, if you are wearing a safety belt, your chances of surviving a collision improve by 50 percent.

It is the safety belt's ability to keep the occupant in the seat that is of crucial importance. A massive 75 percent of people thrown out of cars in accidents die in the process. All told, the belt reduces the risk of fatalities and serious injuries from collisions by about 50 percent.

It is impossible to put an exact figure on the number of lives the three-point belt has saved since the 1960s — there are no globally coordinated traffic-safety statistics, according to Volvo. Estimates put the figure at just over a million lives. And many times that number has avoided serious injuries thanks to the safety belt.