Bohlin

On July 10, 1962, the U.S. Patent Office, now the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, issues a patent for the three-point seat belt. The inventor was Swede Nils Bohlin, who worked for the Swedish automaker Volvo. Four years later, Congress passed a law requiring all new cars to include the three-point seat belt. While there have been some tweaks to Bohlin’s original, today’s seat belts are basically his design. Seat belts are credited with reducing traffic fatalities by 50%, and today it is estimated that more than 80% of Americans wear them when driving.