Most cars have seat belts as part of their equipment. Seat belts protect drivers and passengers in case of accidents. They also reduce the effect of a crash on the body. Worldwide, the devices have protected up to a million people.
America first recognized the invention of an automobile seat belt in 1849. The government gave a patent to an engineer named Edward Claghorn of New York City so that others would not copy his invention of a safety device.   This early version of safety belt was said to include hooks and other attachments for securing the person to a fixed object.
Other inventors followed with different versions of the seat belt.   It resulted from the work of a Swedish engineer, Nils Bohlin. His three-point, lap and shoulder seat belt first appeared on cars in Europe 50 years ago.
Nils Bohlin recognized that both the upper and lower body needed to be held securely in place. His invention contained a cloth strap（带子）that was placed across the chest and another strap across his hips.   
Volvo was the first company to offer the modern seat belt to its cars. This company also provided use of Nils Bohlin's design to other car-makers.
  He received a gold medal from the Royal Swedish Academy of Engineering Sciences in 1995. He died in Sweden in 2002.

A．The Swedish engineer won many honors for his seat belt.

B．Claghorn was a promising young engineer with many honors all his life.

C．The design joined the straps next to the hip.

D．There are many companies adopting Nils Bohlin's invention of the belt.

E. Safety experts say that seat belts save thousands of lives a year in America alone.
F. But more than 100 years passed before the current seat belt was developed.
G. Claghorn called his invention a safety belt.