Photo: Ford
If you thought the nagging driver was giving you a hard time about the use of seat belts before, wait until Ford rolls out its new belt monitor system to all of its vehicles.
Most of the current seat belt safety system are reminders limited to audible chimes and a visual cue that kick in when a car reaches a certain speed and the belt is not buckled. But that’s mostly for the front seats.
In some parts of the world, like say Europe, seatbelt reminders for both front and rear seats will be mandatory as of September 2019. Thinking ahead, Ford has already fitted an even more advanced system on some of its SUVs like the Ranger, Explorer and Expedition.
And now it has decided to include it on all the cars it sells on the American market.
The system is called just that, Seat Belt Monitor. It is used to detect when a seat belt is unbuckled in the rear seats where usually kids sit. Not only does the car tell on the kid doing this, but it also shows, on the instrument cluster, which of the seat belts was removed.
As opposed to conventional systems that only kick in when the car starts moving, Ford’s technology works even when the car is on the move.
“Whether you’re on the freeway or the trail, we want to make sure everyone who puts a seat belt on keeps it on,” said in a statement Paul Kula, Ford electrical systems engineer.
“We hope that making Belt Monitor a standard feature in every Ford Ranger will provide extra peace of mind for the driver.”
Ford’s announcement comes just a few weeks after the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety released the results of a study which showed the current state of rear seat restraint systems poses a great risk for passengers.
The organization blames this on the fact that safety systems for the front occupants have evolved constantly, unlike the ones for the people in the back.
In some parts of the world, like say Europe, seatbelt reminders for both front and rear seats will be mandatory as of September 2019. Thinking ahead, Ford has already fitted an even more advanced system on some of its SUVs like the Ranger, Explorer and Expedition.
And now it has decided to include it on all the cars it sells on the American market.
The system is called just that, Seat Belt Monitor. It is used to detect when a seat belt is unbuckled in the rear seats where usually kids sit. Not only does the car tell on the kid doing this, but it also shows, on the instrument cluster, which of the seat belts was removed.
As opposed to conventional systems that only kick in when the car starts moving, Ford’s technology works even when the car is on the move.
“Whether you’re on the freeway or the trail, we want to make sure everyone who puts a seat belt on keeps it on,” said in a statement Paul Kula, Ford electrical systems engineer.
“We hope that making Belt Monitor a standard feature in every Ford Ranger will provide extra peace of mind for the driver.”
Ford’s announcement comes just a few weeks after the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety released the results of a study which showed the current state of rear seat restraint systems poses a great risk for passengers.
The organization blames this on the fact that safety systems for the front occupants have evolved constantly, unlike the ones for the people in the back.
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