Seatbelts

[Don Savard <res03r3f@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

You also have to remember in the 60's the manufacturers were compelled by the US
Govt to put safety restraints in cars. The manufacturers were (and still are) 
not
team players when it came to safety regs and were prone to meet the minimum 
intent
of regulations-why spend money on unneeded car equipment if you could instead 
load
the car up with very profitable and desireable options! Can you say Chevy
Citation(the ultimate exercise in minimalism) or the rubber nerf bars of the
Chrysler cars when everybody else went to cowcatcher bumpers? It took all the 
way
to Air bags for the manufacturers to figure out that they could make safety very
profitable because we are very aware of crash safety as a culture and what the
people want, they'll supply and make a tidy profit on it.
 Don Savard

dardal@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx wrote:

> Quoting "ChiPieAlandPaula@xxxxxxx" <ChiPieAlandPaula@xxxxxxx>:
>
> > harnesses. So you end up with a "lap belt". I never really undestood
> > what
> > these were supposed to accomplish? After all, in an impact the body will
> >
> > continue in motion. So your head still goes through the windshield.
> >
> >                                                          Allan From
> > Billings,
> > Montana
> >
>
> Allan, the most important thing these seatbelts will do is keep you inside the
> car in case of a serious crash.  Being jetissoned off the car is almost 
>certain
> death.  Your car may not have serious damage, but if you are knocked off it,
> you are in trouble.  This alone is a very important protection.  Second, even
> the lap belt will keep you from sliding through the winshield, even if your
> head does hit the steering wheel.  All the late 60's cars had relatively soft
> interiors to minimize head injury.  A lap belt would obviously work much
> better.  In the early-mid 60's only Volvo as far as I know had them as 
>standard
> equipment.
>
> Point is, wear these seatbelts even if they are incomplete.
> D^2
>