---

Automotive Hall of Fame to Induct Bolin

27 February 1999

Automotive Hall of Fame to Induct Three-Point Safety Belt Inventor and Original Volvo Safety Engineer

    ROCKLEIGH, N.J., Feb. 27 -- It might be an inventor's dream
to have an invention be mass-produced, become a well-known industry standard,
save countless lives and be recognized with prestigious international awards.
    If so, a dream is coming true for 79-year-old Nils Ivar Bohlin, the
inventor of the three-point safety belt.  The Automotive Hall of Fame has
announced today that it will honor Bohlin as a 1999 inductee along with
other industry pioneers in a ceremony to be held on October 19th at the
Dearborn, Michigan Ritz-Carlton.
    A former aircraft engineer, Bohlin joined Volvo in 1958 as the company's
first safety engineer, focusing on continuous safety development in Volvo
cars.  His first assignment was to improve the current European safety
restraint, the diagonal two-point belt.  Bohlin designed the three-point belt,
which Volvo first introduced in 1959 in its 544 sedan.  Other automobile
manufacturers followed suit.  Today, the belt is required by the federal
government in all cars and is still the most effective occupant restraint in
all types of accidents.
    "Sometimes I get a call from some grateful person who has survived thanks
to the belt.  It warms my heart and shows that I really have been able to do
something for mankind," says Bohlin.
    Nils' design has received only minor comfort-oriented modifications since
its introduction 40 years ago.
    "Nils has put a little bit of Volvo in every car around the world,"
remarks Volvo CEO Hans-Olov Olsson.  "His contribution demonstrates Volvo's
time-honored leadership in safety innovation."
    The Automotive Hall of Fame's honor is one of many bestowed upon Bohlin
and his invention.  For example, in 1985, his safety belt patent was chosen by
the Patent Office of West Germany as one of the eight patents which have been
of greatest importance to mankind in the past century.  Thomas Edison was
another recipient of that award.
    The Automotive Hall of Fame honors individuals who have contributed to the
advancement of the world-wide motor vehicle industry.  Each year, inductees
are selected by the Hall of Fame Board of Directors following research and
recommendations by an Advisory Panel of automotive historians and editors.
For 1999, Nils Bohlin will be honored along with: Allen K. Breed, inventor of
the electromechanical crash sensor (EMS); Elliot M. Estees*, president and
chief operating officer of General Motors from 1974 to 1981; James Ward
Packard* and William Doud Packard*, founders of the Packard Motor Car Company
and developers of the first hook-up accelerator pedal; Armand Peugeot*,
founder of PSA Peugeot Citroen; Harold M. Poling, chairman of the board and
chief executive officer of Ford Motor Company, 1990 to 1994; and Preston
Tucker Sr.*, founder of the Tucker Corporation.