Major car brand introduces revolutionary seat belt tech which could save your life in a crash – here’s how it works

A MAJOR car brand has introduced a revolutionary new seat belt technology which could save your life in a crash.

The ZF Smart Seat Belt is set to be a game changer in the world of car safety as it automatically adjusts to your body type.

The genius system will self-adjust so it is perfectly aligned to the person's body type, height, weight and stature providing a safer experience.

Engineers behind the product have called the new tech a vital step towards complete car safety as it has been specially built to protect those in potentially fatal collisions.

ZF’s new system uses automatic sensors inside the belt - known as an ACR8 electromechanical belt tensioner - to constantly measure the pressure applied at different points.

Then when the smart technology recognises any added pressure it adjusts accordingly and balances out the tension.

This will be ideal in the event of a crash as the sensors will recognise the added force when your body is thrown forwards and give you the best level of protection possible.

The reason for the new belt technology is because a bulky 6ft 5in male bodybuilder requires a very different set up to a 5ft 3in female runner if they were both in a crash.

Seatbelts often come in just one size and have to be fastened by the driver or passenger to hug against their body for ultimate protection.

This means that in the case of a crash, the amount of force put on the belt is massively different for each person.

This can result in a lot less protection if the belt isn't fully in place.

ZF hopes that because of the customisable nature of the seatbelt there will be less serious injuries due to the belt being too tight or too loose.

ZF has also designed a heated seatbelt which surprisingly helps your electric car travel further on a single charge.

The aim of the system is to make EVs less dependent on functions such as traditional heaters, heated seats and steering wheels which put extra strain on a vehicle’s battery.

The reasoning is that having a heat source closer to the body will be a more efficient way of warming up the occupants of the car, rather than relying on heating the entire cabin with hot air blowing out of various vents.

Using the toasty belts means the car’s heater matrix won’t need to work as hard to provide extra warmth throughout the interior. 

This is especially important with an electric car, which isn’t able to utilise wasted heat as you’d normally find with a combustion engine. 

Instead, energy is taken from the battery, which means this new tech could increase an EV’s range by up to 15 per cent, ZF claims.

The Sun recently revealed the 10 safest cars you can buy in the UK in 2024.

This included a Lexus, Tesla and a Mercedes.