Follow On: Development of an Improved Seat Belt Design with Particular Emphasis on the Needs of Pregnant Women

There is a need for improved automotive seatbelt protection for people who have difficulties in keeping the traditional seatbelt in its intended position. The major cause of this is that the existing seatbelts do not accommodate many different body shapes and sizes. In particular, pregnant women are a perfect example of this group of people and present a challenge for automobile manufacturers. The EPSRC research project `Automotive Design: Incorporating the Needs of Pregnant Women' (PI: Dr Serpil Acar, GR/R13081/01) forms the basis of the Follow on Fund application, the aim of which is to transform the concepts of the restraint design for pregnant women into products for licensing for mass production. Technical and commercial objectives to reach this aim are to:Develop commercially viable detailed designs of the seatbelt concepts and build working prototypesConduct comfort trials and safety testsPublicise and investigate possibilities of application in additional marketsProtect IPR for the invention (funding not requested from EPSRC) and engage motor industry in licensing talks