Skoda Patents LED-Illuminated Seat Buckles, First in the World and Auto Industry

Czech automobile manufacturer Skoda recently announced that it has patented a new light-emitting diode (LED) seat belt buckle. The new safety spec is the world’s first illuminated seat belt buckle which aims to reduce the hassle of trying to put on seat belts but also act as an indicator to the driver and passengers to wear the seatbelts in low-light or night conditions.

According to the automaker, the new tech feature sports multicoloured LED lights which are placed under the transparent seatbelt eject button. They illuminate in three colours and turn white, red and green according to the occupant wearing the seat belt. The basic premise is like seatbelt warning sounds that is a common feature in most of the vehicles these days, which keeps beeping until the passenger seated has not put it on.

The lights may always not be illuminated as Skoda further clarified that it has added weight sensors to detect if an occupant has taken the seat before illuminating the buckle. The buckle light glows white when there is nobody in the seat and makes it easy to find it in dark conditions. As soon as a passenger boards the vehicle a second mode activates which turns the buckle lights to glow red as a gentle reminder for the passenger to wear the seatbelt and glows green once it is secure, as per a report by Autocar India.

The new seatbelt buckle features a crystalline pattern on the transparent eject button and will not only be useful for parents who can immediately see if their kids haven’t worn their seatbelts properly, but also improve safety for all passengers. Users have the choice to program the buckle to flash and adjust the light dispersion which can increase or decrease the button’s glow.

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Even though the Czech automaker has filed for a patent, the buckle tech is still under development and there’s no timeline by when this technology will feature on its production cars. Nonetheless, the illuminating light buckle is the latest in Skoda’s quest for safety.

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