Mercedes-Benz has just developed a new safety device that will help to alleviate the pressure on our rib-cage if and when we do experience a severe head-on impact, where the seat-belt strap will inflate and provide three times the width of a usual seat-belt strap and looks to be going into production for Mercedes-Benz’s luxury vehicles.
<!--more-->Dubbed the Beltbag, once crash sensors pick-up an impact up front, the airbag control unit will trigger a gas generator that will inflate the multi-layered belt strap with Velcro seams to three times that of a normal seat-belt strap in order to spread the pressure exerted on the rib-cage – the larger the surface area, the lesser the pressure exerted and vice versa.
The Beltbag being developed by Mercedes-Benz is still worn conventionally, just that the strap looks and feels different having increased comfort levels for its extra-soft strap edges that sounds like it won’t bite.
Mercedes safety engineers came up with the Beltbag especially for rear passengers in mind, not having an airbag to help decelerate an occupant’s forward motion, they thought they might as well make it less of a discomfort when passengers get thrown forward causing less pain around the chest cavity, especially when you’ve got seat belt tensioners and belt force limiters.
Anything wider than it already is will definitely help to alleviate the pressure, preventing it from digging into the flesh and compressing the chest cavity causing us to feel winded and out of breath. However, not all markets will be receiving this new development, having been earmarked for developing markets instead, which sees more use of the rear seats than in Europe.
