Today, Volvo Cars unveils a major safety improvement to the safety belt: the new multi-adaptive safety belt. This world-first technology aims to further enhance safety for everyone in real-world traffic situations.

Debuting in the upcoming fully electric Volvo EX60 in 2026, the new safety belt is designed to better protect people by adapting to traffic variations and the person wearing it, thanks to real-time data from the car’s advanced sensors.

The new multi-adaptive safety belt can use data from interior and exterior sensors to customize protection, adjusting its settings based on various factors such as occupant height, weight, body shape, seating position, and crash severity. For example, a larger occupant in a serious crash will receive a higher belt load setting to help reduce the risk of head injury, while a smaller occupant in a milder crash will receive a lower belt load setting to reduce the risk of rib fractures.

This is achieved by significantly increasing the number of so-called load-limiting profile variations, which manage the force applied to occupants in the event of an accident. And thanks to over-the-air software updates, it can improve over time.

“The world-first multi-adaptive safety belt is another milestone for automotive safety and a great example of how we leverage real-time data with the ambition to help save millions more lives,” says Åsa Haglund, Head of Volvo Cars Safety Centre. “This marks a major upgrade to the modern three-point safety belt, a Volvo invention introduced in 1959, estimated to have saved over a million lives.”

​​

Leveraging Data to Improve Safety

With over five decades of safety research and a database of more than 80,000 real-life accident occupants, Volvo Cars has gained unique insights into the complexities of real-world driving. This knowledge underpins the company’s safety innovations and the pioneering Volvo Cars Safety Standard, which exceeds official testing requirements.

Building on Volvo Cars’ long history of creating vehicles aimed at being equally safe for everyone, the company continues to explore new technologies to protect diverse individuals in various crash scenarios.

Modern safety belts use load limiters to control the force applied to the human body during a crash. This new safety belt expands the load-limiting profiles from three to eleven, greatly increasing the possible range of settings to optimize performance for each situation and occupant.

Unlike traditional systems, the multi-adaptive safety belt utilizes data from multiple sensors, including exterior, interior, and crash sensors. In less than the blink of an eye, the system analyzes the crash’s unique characteristics—such as direction, speed, and passenger posture—and selects the most appropriate setting.

Better Over Time
The new belt continuously improves via over-the-air software updates. As Volvo Cars gathers more data and insights, the car refines its understanding of occupants, crash scenarios, and response strategies. It also works seamlessly with airbags, occupant detection, and driver assistance systems, providing harmonized protection features that enhance effectiveness and reduce injury risk.

The belt has undergone extensive testing and development at the Volvo Cars Safety Centre crash lab, which celebrates its 25th anniversary this year. In this industry-leading facility, safety engineers can recreate almost any traffic accident and carry out tests that exceed regulatory requirements, maintaining Volvo Cars’ position as a leader in automotive safety.