Volvo Airbag Celebrates 20 Years

In 1987, the first Volvo car to be equipped with an airbag left the assembly line. But Volvo Cars continuously refined its airbag to deliver cutting-edge airbag technology that aficionados enjoy today. The airbag offers an enhanced protection in both frontal and side impacts.

Included in Volvo's world firsts are the seat-mounted side airbag and the Inflatable Curtain (IC). The airbag is a standard feature since several years, but in the early days both the technology and its reliability stirred argument. At present, many of these worries were justified.

"Getting an airbag to deploy is not a problem, but to make it deploy in exactly the right moment is," explained Lennart Johansson, the section head at the Volvo Cars Interior Product Development department.

It was in 1950 when the first airbag was used. But the technology was far-off from mature. One 1955 patent described a system similar to the modern technology but the most significant distinction is that the driver himself had to deploy the bag by pressing a button.

In 1984, a U.S. bill accelerated the airbag development process. The bill stressed the perils of not using safety belt. It also demanded automakers to equip their cars with protective safety devices that did not need to be activated by the occupants.

In time, the airbag was swiftly recognized as the best option. Back then, critics predicted that the airbag would even substitute the three-point safety belt that was introduced by Volvo in 1959. However, the Swedish automaker successfully refuted that the best safety result would be achieved by a co-operation between the safety belt system and the airbag technology.

"More airbags will not necessarily improve the overall safety level. It is important to regard the airbag as part of a systematic approach where the car's structure, the Seat belts and the airbags interact to ensure optimum absorption of the collision forces in an accident," intimated Johansson.

In 1991, the airbag became a standard feature of the 850. Four years after, the automaker took the technology to the next level by launching a side airbag that is integrated in the backrest of the seat which was made to be ready to help protect the chest in a side impact. "We took a huge step forward by making the side airbag a part of our patented Side Impact Protection System that is integrated in the body structure. It took other carmakers a couple of years to catch up," said Johansson.

At present, airbags play significant role in etching the name of the Swedish automaker to correspond to the word safety. The Volvo repair manual reflects their essence and significance to bring forth comfy and safe ride.

"Airbag performance has been improved significantly. Today's technology is much more adapted to the collision sequence and how occupants are moved by the crash forces. Twenty years down the road, airbag technology is a vital part of our aim to build the safest cars in the world," noted Johansson.