On June 1, 1975, the Belgian government made wearing a seat belt in the front of a car mandatory. A safety measure that significantly reduced the risk of death during car crashes, but the public needed some convincing. And even today, an alarmingly large number of road deaths come from people not wearing their seat belts.
The three-point seat belt was invented in 1959 by Swedish engineer Nils Bohlin, who worked for Volvo. Before then, two-point belts that simply enveloped the waist of the occupant were used, which carried a far greater risk for injury in the event of an accident.
Free to the public thanks to Volvo
Volvo decided to make the patented technology available to the public for free, potentially saving over a million lives. Even today, over 65 years later, the three-point belt is still the standard, used by nearly every car on the market.
The Belgian government made wearing a seatbelt in the car mandatory on June 1, 1975, nearly exactly 50 years ago. Interestingly, only the front occupants were required to wear their seatbelts. Rear occupants only had to wear their seatbelts from 1991. Today, new cars must be equipped with warning systems to alert passengers who have not fastened their seatbelts.
A large number of deaths still occur because of the lack of seat belt use
But even now, a significant number of people refuse to wear their safety belts in the car. According to the Vias Institute, 95% of Belgian people wear their seatbelts in the front of a vehicle, but only 79% do the same in the rear. Within built-up areas, the number is even lower (92% in the front), and if the driver does not wear their seatbelt, only 50% of the passengers will buckle up.
This refusal has real safety consequences, according to the Belgian Road Safety Institute, Vias. In over 1 in 4 deadly accidents without a second vehicle involved (27%) in the last 10 years, the driver was not wearing a seat belt. This number increases further on highways (33%) and especially with van drivers (almost 40%!).
The reason is obvious: because delivery drivers have to make dozens, if not hundreds, of stops a day, the inconvenience of having to put on their seatbelts every time is increasing the risk of not wearing them at all.
