A Side Impact Protection System (SIPS) is a system of protection against injury in side collision

Side collision

Side collisions are vehicle crashes where the side of one or more vehicles is impacted. These crashes often occur at intersections, in parking lots, when two vehicles pass on a multi-lane roadway, or when a vehicle hits a fixed object....

s, developed by Volvo

Volvo Cars

Volvo Car Corporation, or Volvo Personvagnar AB, is a Swedish automobile manufacturer founded in 1927, in Gothenburg, Sweden. It is owned by Zhejiang Geely Holding Group. Volvo was originally formed as a subsidiary company to the ball bearing maker SKF. When Volvo AB was introduced on the Swedish...

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SIPS was released in the Volvo 700, 900 and 850

Volvo 850

The Volvo 850 is a compact executive car produced by Volvo Cars from 1992 to 1997 and designed by Jan Wilsgaard. Available in sedan/saloon and station wagon/estate body styles, the Volvo 850 was notable as the first front-wheel drive vehicle from this Swedish manufacturer to be exported to North...

 series in 1991.

The SIPS system worked by having the driver and passenger seat mounted on transverse steel rails, not bolted to the floor as per the standard configuration. In a side impact these transverse rails allowed the seats to crush a reinforced center console during a side impact. The system is designed to more widely distribute the energy in a side collision across the whole side of the car rather than having the B-pillar absorb it all.

The SIPS side seat airbags were released in 1994 850

Volvo 850

The Volvo 850 is a compact executive car produced by Volvo Cars from 1992 to 1997 and designed by Jan Wilsgaard. Available in sedan/saloon and station wagon/estate body styles, the Volvo 850 was notable as the first front-wheel drive vehicle from this Swedish manufacturer to be exported to North...

 models and became standard beginning in 1995. In 1999, the SIPS system gained the use of the first true curtain style airbags, deploying from the headlining in a side impact. The curtain airbags now have become common in many cars and SUVs and are credited with saving many lives. The Curtain airbags became standard on the 1999 Volvo S80

Volvo S80

The Volvo S80 is a mid-size executive saloon/sedan from Swedish automaker Volvo Cars, and was introduced in 1998 to take the place of the rear-wheel drive Volvo 960/S90 saloons in the model range. The Volvo S80 was built at the Torslanda Plant in Gothenburg, Sweden. Unlike most Volvo models, it...

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