The humble seat belt — one of the most important safety innovations in automotive history — is finally getting its due.
The Society of Plastics Engineers (SPE) Automotive Division announced that the front lap seat belt, first offered by Nash Motors in 1949, will be inducted into its Hall of Fame at the 54th Annual Automotive Innovation Awards Gala on November 5, 2025, in Livonia, Michigan.
Long before seat belts were standard equipment, Nash Motors made headlines by offering them as an optional feature in its 1949 Airflyte and Ambassador models. It was the first U.S. automaker to do so — a bold move at a time when most drivers didn’t see the need for restraints. According to Plastics Today, Nash installed seat belts in about 40,000 vehicles that year. But customers weren’t exactly lining up for the option. Many dealers removed them at buyers’ requests, and after a year, only 1,000 of those belts had actually been used.
Still, the idea stuck. A decade later, Swedish engineer Nils Bohlin, then chief safety engineer at Volvo, developed the modern three-point seat belt — first installed in the 1959 Volvo PV544. In a remarkable act of corporate responsibility, Volvo made Bohlin’s design available to other automakers free of charge, ensuring that the innovation could save as many lives as possible.
It would take decades of legislation and public education for seat belts to become mandatory across nearly all U.S. states — New Hampshire being the lone exception, where adults can still legally go without buckling up. But once the safety benefits became clear, there was no turning back. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) estimates that seat belts save more than 15,000 lives in the U.S. every year.
SPE’s Automotive Division notes that over the decades, advances in materials like nylon and polyester have made seat belts stronger, more comfortable, and easier to mass-produce. Those same materials have also improved their aesthetic appeal, allowing seat belts to blend seamlessly into vehicle interiors — something every trimmer can appreciate.
At this year’s gala, representatives from Stellantis — which owns the Nash Motors brand through its acquisition of American Motors in 1987 — will accept the award. They’ll be joined by executives from Celanese, which acquired DuPont’s Mobility & Materials division (and its nylon resin business) in 2022. Nylon remains a core material in seat belt manufacturing today.
The Automotive Innovation Awards Gala, established in 1970, is the oldest and largest competition of its kind. To qualify for the Hall of Fame, a plastic or composite automotive component must have been in continuous service for at least 15 years, made a lasting contribution to the use of plastics in vehicles, and been widely adopted by the industry.
After 75 years of saving lives, the seat belt certainly meets those standards — and then some.
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