Volvo Cars unveiled the new multi-adaptive safety belt—a world-first technology aimed 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, using real-time data from the car’s advanced sensors.

The new multi-adaptive safety belt can use data input from interior and exterior sensors to customize protection, adapting the setting based on the situation and individual’s profiles, such as their height, weight, body shape and seating position.

For example, a larger occupant in a serious crash will receive a higher belt load setting to help reduce the risk of head injury; a smaller occupant in a milder crash will receive a lower belt load setting to reduce the risk of rib fractures.

New multi-adaptive safety belt - exploded view

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

Modern safety belts use load limiters to control how much force the safety belt applies on the human body during a crash. This new safety belt expands the load-limiting profiles from three to eleven and increases the possible number of settings, enabling it to optimise performance for each situation and individual.

Unlike traditional systems, the new multi-adaptive safety belt can utilize data from different sensors, including exterior, interior and crash sensors. In less than a blink of an eye, the car’s system analyzes the unique characteristics of a crash—such as direction, speed, and passenger posture—and shares that information with the safety belt. Based on this data, the system selects the most appropriate setting.

The belt has been tested and further developed at the Volvo Cars Safety Center crash lab, which celebrates its 25^th anniversary this year. In the industry-leading crash lab, Volvo Cars’ safety engineers can recreate almost any traffic accident and perform tests that exceed regulatory requirements for real-world safety.