Volvo Cars is launching a major safety improvement to the safety belt. Making its debut in the upcoming fully electric Volvo EX60 in 2026, the new safety belt is designed to better protect people by adapting to traffic variations and the person wearing it, thanks to real-time data from the car’s advanced sensors.

The new multi-adaptive safety belt can use data input from interior and exterior sensors to customise protection, adapting the setting based on the situation and the individual’s profile, such as height, weight, body shape and seating position. A larger occupant in a serious crash, for example, will receive a higher belt load setting to help reduce the risk of head injury, while a smaller occupant in a milder crash will receive a lower belt load setting to reduce the risk of rib fractures.

This is achieved by significantly increasing the number of so-called ‘load-limiting profile variations’, which manage the force applied to the occupants in the event of an accident. And thanks to over-the-air software updates, it gets better over time. As Volvo Cars gathers more data and insights, the car can improve its understanding of the occupants, new scenarios and response strategies.

Unlike traditional systems, the new multi-adaptive safety belt can utilise data from different sensors, including exterior, interior and crash sensors. In less than a blink of an eye, the car’s system analyses the unique characteristics of a crash – such as direction, speed and passenger posture – and shares that information with the safety belt. Based on this data, the system selects the most appropriate setting.

“The world first multi-adaptive safety belt is another milestone for automotive safety and a great example of how we can leverage real-time data,” says Åsa Haglund, head of the Volvo Cars Safety Centre. “This marks a major upgrade to the modern three-point safety belt, a Volvo invention introduced in 1959 and estimated to have saved over a million lives.”

www.volvocars.com