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It’s certainly a safety improvement, but Mercedes’ new active seat belt buckle should also eliminate the utterly annoying game of trying to find the connectors that have inevitably gotten stuck in-between the back seat cushions of a car.
The addition of bright glowing LEDs making them easier to spot, particularly in the dark, is a brilliant enough innovation on its own. But Mercedes has gone one step further, with a motorised system that extends the buckles upwards as much as 2.8-inches, so they’re hard to miss and easier to use. In the event of a crash, the active seat belt buckle also works in reverse, slightly retracting after impact so it holds the passenger more securely.
The new system will be implemented in Mercedes’ luxury vehicle lines in the very near future, but hopefully it will eventually trickle down into Daimler’s more affordable models for the rest of us who hate playing back seat belt follies. [Daimler via Gizmag]
Because there was something wrong with just tracing the seat belt with your hand till you found the buckle?
Reminds me of mercedes’ seat belt extender on their 3 door coupes, where the actual seatbelt shoulder mount is waaay far back so reaching them is a pain. They extend forward when you sit in the car then retract back once you have your seatbelt on. Very useful.
This… extendy thing seems ok, but the light up buttons seem pointless.
The first problem is I don’t have eyeballs in my elbows so making them light up is pointless.
Retracting seatbelts are not a new invention, many European cars have had them for years.
Actually making them vibrate slightly would be much better since you tend to find them by touch.