Lincoln will introduce inflatable seatbelts to their vehicles starting in the summer of 2012. The new inflatable seatbelts will also be available in the Ford Flex, and is already an option in the 2011 Ford Explorer. The new seatbelt will contain an airbag that deploys if an accident occurs and expands across the passenger's torso. Once expanded, the air bag will cover five times more than a regular seatbelt. The new belt will help to prevent injury to backseat passengers by spreading out the crash pressure over a larger area. Sue Cischke, Ford group vice president of Sustainability, Environment and Safety Engineering explains, "This advanced restraint system is designed to help reduce head, neck, and chest injuries for rear-seat passengers, often children, and older passengers who can be more vulnerable to such injuries."
At the 2011 Edison Awards, the new seatbelt won Lincoln the gold medal for Applied Technology. Research shows that the option of the inflatable seatbelt appeals especially to parents. The 2011 Ford Explorer is the only vehicle that currently offers the inflatable seatbelt, and research shows that 40 percent of people that bought a 2011 Ford Explorer were parents that chose to get the optional rear inflatable seatbelts. Ford plans to add this option to the Ford Flex, as it is another popular vehicle among families.
While the main purpose of the inflatable seatbelt is to help reduce the risk of severe injuries during an accident, manufacturers are hoping it will serve as a safety feature in one other way too. According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, in the United States, only 61 percent of rear passengers wear a seatbelt, while 82 percent of front seat passengers use a seatbelt. Lincoln is hoping that the padded seatbelt will cause more people to wear a seatbelt, especially in the backseat, because the padded belt will be more comfortable to wear.
The belt works very simply. When the car's sensors determine that the vehicle has been in an accident, the seatbelts deploy. The airbag is tubular and inflates with a cold, compressed gas that flows up the specially designed buckle. The airbags expand sideways across the passenger's body, similar to an accordion. Srini Sundararajan, safety technical leader for Ford Research and Innovation explains, "It's a very simple and logical system, but it required extensive trial and error and testing over several years to prove out the technology and ensure precise, reliable performance in a crash situation."
The 2013 Lincoln lineup will have the option of adding the inflatable seatbelts starting in the summer of 2012. They hope to reduce the risk of injury for passengers and to encourage more people to wear their seatbelts. The inflatable seatbelts will offer a comfortable protection for adults and children of all sizes.
