Two automakers announced seatbelt enhancements within the past six months. Luxury automaker Mercedes targeted comfort with its heated seatbelts, while Volvo targeted improved safety with its adaptive seatbelt.

According to a press release, Volvo’s new seatbelt will debut in the 2026 fully electric Volvo EX60.

The adaptive seatbelt is designed to better protect people by adapting to traffic variations and the person wearing it, in part due to real-time data from the car’s advanced sensors.

Using data from interior and exterior sensors, the adaptive belt is said to customize protection based on the situation and individual’s profiles, such as their height, weight, body shape, and seating position.

Examples provided by the Swedish automaker, a larger occupant in a serious crash will receive a higher belt load setting to help reduce the risk of head injury. While a smaller occupant in a milder crash will receive a lower belt load setting to reduce the risk of rib fractures.

“The world’s first multi-adaptive safety belt is another milestone for automotive safety and a great example of how we leverage real-time data with the ambition to help save millions of more lives,” says Åsa Haglund, head of Volvo Cars Safety Centre. “This marks a major upgrade to the modern three-point safety belt, a Volvo invention introduced in 1959, estimated to have saved over a million lives.”

The automaker described why the seatbelt can adapt to the individual driver and passenger.

“Modern safety belts use load limiters to control how much force the safety belt applies to 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 optimize performance for each situation and individual.”

The vehicle’s system analyzes the unique characteristics of a crash, including the direction, speed, and passenger posture. It then shares the information with the safety belt.

As more insight and data are captured, the system will continually improve via over-the-air software updates.

The new Volvo EX60 was revealed this week during a livestream event from Stockholm, Sweden.