Abstract: A passive safety belt device for a motor vehicle is provided with a belt winding spool adjacent a vehicle seat connected to one end of a safety belt and a slide moving in a track adjacent the vehicle door and holding the other end of the safety belt. The belt winding spool is provided with an inertially operated locking device. Means are provided for retaining the locking device in the unlocked position and releasing the locking device only when the slide is in a position for restraining a passenger in the vehicle seat.

Abstract: A safety device for a passenger in a vehicle, such as an automobile, comprises an energy absorbing impact element mounted on the vehicle adjacent the knees of a passenger seated in an associated vehicle seat. A surface of the impact element is presented to the passenger's knees and is configured to guide his knees, when impacting on the element, into positions in which the passenger's thighs are aligned generally parallel to the longitudinal axis of the vehicle. The guiding action of the impact element is preferably accomplished by providing at least one recess in the element to receive the passenger's knees. The safety device may also comprise a shoulder safety belt extending diagonally across the upper portion of the passenger's body to restrain the passenger against the vehicle seat. A guide member may be mounted on an adjacent door of the vehicle so as to guide the passenger's knees toward the recess in the impact element.