Safety belt

A safety belt, especially for vehicles or aircraft, on one end of which there engages a retracting device which has a device for initiating the retraction of the belt. The retracting device has a retracting element (1) which is connected to the end of the belt, is mounted on the vehicle or aircraft so as to be movable on a guide (19,20) essentially or approximately in the longitudinal direction of the belt and can take the form of a rigid rod which can be locked by a first locking device (25, 27) in a specific starting position on the guide against a restoring force which acts in the direction in which the belt is retracted. The initiating device (23, 24) is designed in such a way that the retraction element (1) ceases to be locked in its locking position whenever there is a sudden sharp change in the speed of the vehicle or aircraft.