Some might consider seatbelts a nuisance, but there’s no denying they have saved tens of millions of lives since Volvo introduced the three-point harness in 1959. Two-point lap belts had been around for many years by then, initially to keep occupants from falling out of open-air cars on bumpy roads before smooth interstates existed. But it was Volvo that evolved seat belts and built a stronger foundation for vehicle safety, a foundation which every other automaker followed.
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