When Volvo engineer Nils Bohlin developed the three-point seatbelt in 1959, Volvo did something unusual: it made the patent available for other carmakers to use.
It’s become part of Volvo folklore, but it says a lot about the company’s attitude to safety. The seatbelt wasn’t treated simply as something that might help sell more Volvos; it could save lives, whoever built the car. Safety was being treated as a public right rather than simply a competitive advantage.
