Ford introduces seatbelt airbags

Words by Steven Wagers

Has Ford invented the next new bit of technology that will save countless lives?



Ford announced that they are going to be using seatbelts that have airbags inside them. In the event of a crash the airbags would expand at a slightly slower rate than the kind you could expect to blast out of the steering wheel, but Srini Sundararajan, the engineer who is credited with inventing the device, told the Associated Press that it will only take a tenth of a second for the airbag to fill entirely.


It's an interesting concept, but the old style of airbags that we recognize today had issues when they first came into existence as well. These new seatbelt airbags are supposedly more gentle when they deploy which lessens the likeliness of injury, but it will be interesting to see how well these seatbelts work when they are put into the 2011 Ford Explorer.

With any luck, Ford may have struck gold and has found a new way of making driving safer for those on board.

Photo Credit: Ford