In the world of automotive engineering, where every patent is a golden egg, there is a story of unprecedented generosity worthy of a Hollywood script. It is about the most important invention for car safety – the three-point seat belt – and the Swedish concern Volvo, which made an astonishing, almost unthinkable decision: to give its patent away for free to the whole world.
It all started a long time ago. The year is 1959. Until then, cars were mainly equipped with two-point (lap) belts, which often caused more internal injuries in a collision than they prevented fatal consequences. At this critical moment, engineer Nils Bohlin, who had worked on ejection seat concepts for SAAB, applied his experience in aerospace safety to the ordinary car.
Bolin’s genius lies in its simplicity: a belt that covers both the pelvis and the chest, distributing the force of the impact to the strongest parts of the body. The first car equipped with this revolutionary system was the Volvo PV544.
Conventional business logic dictates that such an epoch-making invention should be protected with all its might and generate fabulous profits. However, Volvo decided to do exactly the opposite.
The company’s management realized that the importance of the belt far exceeded their commercial interests. It was a matter of public health. Instead of monopolizing the technology and forcing competitors to develop less effective alternatives, they made an astonishing move: they made the patent for the three-point belt free for use by any manufacturer in the world.
“What’s the point of being the only one with the safest belt if people continue to die in other cars?” was the guiding philosophy.
This altruistic act transformed Volvo into more than just a car manufacturer, but a benchmark for responsibility. Today, decades later, the three-point seat belt is a mandatory standard in every vehicle and has saved millions of lives.
The statistics speak for themselves: according to studies, one human life is saved every six minutes thanks to Nils Bohlin’s invention and Volvo’s decision to share it. This small but powerful feature of the car, which we take for granted, is the most striking example of how a business can put aside immediate profit in the name of humanity.
Illustrative Photo by I’m Zion: https://www.pexels.com/photo/close-up-of-a-wheel-of-a-modern-volvo-car-12712468/
