Ford Introduces Seatbelt/Air Bag Hybrid To Save Little Johnny And Grampa

why not just put an airbag in the back of the seat

innovation is key

It took them this long to figure this out? haha, sad.

Forget the seatbelts and airbags, just hook up skynet, and make every vehicle run by computer. No more human error, no more accidents, no more traffic jams. It would be like the transportation system in minority report or I-Robot. I for one am tired of dealing with stupid people on the roads who danger others, and don't know how to drive, so bring on the computer controlled vehicles; they'd be able to anticipate each other, and the driving would be flawless.

I do agree with Cookie here... No driver error would be amazing. However if computers are involved then there is always a chance of a crash (computer wise, not car collision) or a hack. Barring those two stumbling blocks, bring on the computer cars.

I recall that a photograph of a prototype "air belt" was shown in Popular Science back in the 1970s.

Global Auto Traffic Controller is a MUST. We built autopilots for airplanes and is a matter of time to build autopilots for cars. We will still have some racetracks where we can manually drive the cars.

Yeah, hacking, and computer crashes would be a problem, but I definitely think it would cut down on automobile deaths and accidents.

@finitesolutions your right lets make robots drive the cars and keep them away from racetracks and demolition derbies so that we can destroy each other and have safe fun on racetracks

@Cookiees453 The cost savings would be huge, no more car accidents means cheaper insurance and reduced emergency/medical personal costs, no more traffic which costs billions in gas each year, eliminates the need for traffic signals, signs etc. I read somewhere that there are an estimated 50,000 deaths caused by car accidents each year in the US alone.

the belt doesn't appear to do anything that a wider belt with padding wouldn't. airbags in the back of the front seats seems like a better idea but for the force of a deploying airbag directly to the face of a child can kill them. all in all this seems useless. now computer controlled cars that allow you to drive when theres no nearby traffic and have a universal signal to alert other cars of it's presence, thats a much better idea. Gives the safety measure of a computer with "awareness" of other vehicles and perfect driving, as well as the fun of driving yourself when it's safe to do so.

Another note, seems to me that the company is just preying on familial caregiving fears to get sales for the big suv's that have steadily been declining.

I really don't see how an air belt is better than a wider cushioned seatbelt...

And where would the younger baby/rear facing seat go with the seatbelts expanding like that?