OT: Seat belt use. Less than 15% wore them prior to 1985

[Judson1]

Today a much different story. I vividly remember not wearing them as a child and riding in the back of trucks. But had no idea it went from 14% to 90% since then.

Seat belt use rates in the United States - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

 

[BigWillieCock]

Today a much different story. I vividly remember not wearing them as a child and riding in the back of trucks. But had no idea it went from 14% to 90% since then.

I remember the same from the same timeframe. Hell, I remember cars with no seatbelts at all.

 

[DrMickey]

I was born in 71. I can’t imagine NOT wearing a seatbelt now, but I was just learning to drive when the state law required it. I never drove without one, but I vividly remember as a kid laying across the back seat in long trips, or leaning over the middle of the front seat to talk to my parents. Mom even talks about standing me in the front seat when I was 2 or 3. Holy cow. It’s amazing to think that even a minor wreck could have had serious consequences.

 

[BigWillieCock]

I was born in 71. I can’t imagine NOT wearing a seatbelt now, but I was just learning to drive when the state law required it. I never drove without one, but I vividly remember as a kid laying across the back seat in long trips, or leaning over the middle of the front seat to talk to my parents. Mom even talks about standing me in the front seat when I was 2 or 3. Holy cow. It’s amazing to think that even a minor wreck could have had serious consequences.

Yet we survived. Humans are remarkably able to survive. No matter how dumb we might’ve been in the past (thinking of dumb and dangerous things I’ve done).

 

[lowcountry_cock13]

Yet we survived. Humans are remarkably able to survive. No matter how dumb we might’ve been in the past (thinking of dumb and dangerous things I’ve done).

Can you imagine when cars didn’t have tempered glass?

 

[CockofEarle]

Can you imagine when cars didn’t have tempered glass?

Almost 4 decades later when a heater finally became standard equip. With no windshield u’d freeze to death.🥶

 

[2TimeTiger]

It brings to mind the question of whether laws reflect values and behavior or shape them. It is the latter in this case. Smoking is another example.

 

[ToddFlanders]

Yet we survived. Humans are remarkably able to survive.

Well not the ones that got into wrecks without wearing a seatbelt.

 

[stu1cocks]

Crash test dummies of their time.

 

[world famous 3rd base hecklers]

 

[92Pony]

I remember as a kid, standing straddling the center hump in the backseat with a hand on either front bucket seat...... that was my default position if I was in the backseat.

We had a wreck once when I was in the front seat. We were hit in the dr-side by someone who ran a red light. I was sitting on the leading edge of the seat with my hands and chin on the dash. Luckily, I only ended up with a busted lip. What were our parents thinking?!? LOL!!

But yeah, like many here, I don’t dare ride/drive without one on now. I even did as a teen driver - but then, it was mostly to keep me from sliding out of my seat - LOL!

 

[rockingamecock]

Today a much different story. I vividly remember not wearing them as a child and riding in the back of trucks. But had no idea it went from 14% to 90% since then.

Seat belt use rates in the United States - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

My first car didn't have seat belts.....it was a '65 VW.

 

[funktavious]

I don't think people started wearing them out of safety concerns. They started wearing them because they didn't want to get a ticket and have to pay a fine.

 

[Harvard Gamecock]

A close friend of ours just had their son involved in an auto accident. 3 passengers, none were wearing seatbelts. 1 sustained minor injuries. 1 of them has been in the hospital for 2 weeks with a severe head concussion ( the driver )
Another died on the scene.

Why the weren't they wearing the seat belts ? 3 families struggling with that question.

 

[GarnetBeamer]

It's interesting to note that the 3-point seatbelt was invented by an engineer at Volvo. They allowed other car manufacturers to use the design...free of charge.

 

[BigWillieCock]

Well not the ones that got into wrecks without wearing a seatbelt.

You’re missing the context Mr. Flanders.

 

[winloseortie]

It brings to mind the question of whether laws reflect values and behavior or shape them. It is the latter in this case. Smoking is another example.

Seatbelts, drunk driving, smoking, wearing a helmet on a motorcycle, and vaccinations are all public health issues.
Resistances to all of them has been framed as “they are taking away my freedom. I can’t enjoy a smoke after a meal in a restaurant. I want to feel freedom on my bike and a helmet robs me of that. Seatbelts make me uncomfortable and claustrophobic.” I could go on......
At some point the societal view of the good of the community and respecting our neighbor became more prevalent. Unfortunately it took laws to do a lot of this because many proclaimed personal freedom as more important than the community or the well being of their neighbor

 

[Rhizzlebop]

Thank goodness the seatbelt issue didn’t come about in 2020. If so people would be protesting and taking their doors off the cars so they could be seen not wearing a seatbelt and screaming g it harms their ability to breath.

 

[2TimeTiger]

Seatbelts, drunk driving, smoking, wearing a helmet on a motorcycle, and vaccinations are all public health issues.
Resistances to all of them has been framed as “they are taking away my freedom. I can’t enjoy a smoke after a meal in a restaurant. I want to feel freedom on my bike and a helmet robs me of that. Seatbelts make me uncomfortable and claustrophobic.” I could go on......
At some point the societal view of the good of the community and respecting our neighbor became more prevalent. Unfortunately it took laws to do a lot of this because many proclaimed personal freedom as more important than the community or the well being of their neighbor

I 100% agree with your sentiment, but I do think seatbelts and helmets are a bit different from the other examples. The intent of the seat belt and helmet laws seems to be to protect individuals from themselves. I don't really think that is the government's place. Having said that, I'm not gonna go on some crazy crusade against them; I have better things to do with my limited time on earth. I totally agree about the other laws. They are instances of the government rightfully protecting me from harm from others. It boggles my mind that the anti-vaxers/maskers don't seem to mind seat belt laws; at least I don't hear them botching about them as much.

 

[king ward]

Seatbelts -always. And my opinion is that helmets for motorcyclists and their passengers should be mandatory. It's not just about the riders themselves. Their loved ones are stakeholders also, as well as the other people on their group insurance plan.

 

[pepsicock]

I would feel strange not wearing a seatbelt . 1979 my first cousin died in a roll over crash coming back from Clemson and past away . She was a honor roll student at Clemson . They said if she had a seat belt on she would had lived . I wore a seat belt even before it became a minatory law in SC.

 

[Conway Gamecock]

Not wearing seatbelts. Smoking in restaurants. Going to the buffet restaurant with no shirt on or in bare feet, reaching for the biggest fried drumsticks waay back in the tray, rubbing your bare belly against the fried thigh pieces in the front. Sticking forks into power outlets.

There's no use bemoaning the country turning into a socialist communist state. We're already there now. And YOU republicans didn't do a damned thing to stop it.

Damn you, republican comrades. Damn you to hell.......

 

[Gamecockben1979]

I remember the debate about whether you were safer with or without a seat belt on for fear of getting trapped in the vehicle....yeah I’m getting old.

In the end I think it’s a wash. Back then people didn’t wear seatbelts as much but for the most part people seemed to drive safer.

Plenty of morons on the interstate daily now channeling their lost NASCAR dream while texting and sometimes under the influence.

Road rage is more common. Speeding at excessive rates has to be up. I’ll set my car for 10 mph over the speed limit and people will pass me all day long. Cell phone crashes are more prevalent.

 

[funktavious]

I remember the debate about whether you were safer with or without a seat belt on for fear of getting trapped in the vehicle....yeah I’m getting old.

In the end I think it’s a wash. Back then people didn’t wear seatbelts as much but for the most part people seemed to drive safer.

Plenty of morons on the interstate daily now channeling their lost NASCAR dream while texting and sometimes under the influence.

Road rage is more common. Speeding at excessive rates has to be up. I’ll set my car for 10 mph over the speed limit and people will pass me all day long. Cell phone crashes are more prevalent.

My sister was in a bad car accident in 1987, hit a tree. Not having on a seatbelt actually saved her from being crushed. Her legs came up out from under the stearing wheel where the engine had been pushed back into her. Had a seatbelt held her in place, her lower half would have been completely crushed.

 

[Gamecockben1979]

My sister was in a bad car accident in 1987, hit a tree. Not having on a seatbelt actually saved her from being crushed. Her legs came up out from under the stearing wheel where the engine had been pushed back into her. Had a seatbelt held her in place, her lower half would have been completely crushed.

Sorry to hear that. I think in the 80s the seatbelt technology was such that wearing the seat belt was still safer in some cases but not near as safe as it is today. This is certainly one of those examples.

I hate this happened but I’m glad you shared it because I think younger people on the board would have thought I was crazy or not remembering “back in the day” accurately.

 

[Rhizzlebop]

My sister was in a bad car accident in 1987, hit a tree. Not having on a seatbelt actually saved her from being crushed. Her legs came up out from under the stearing wheel where the engine had been pushed back into her. Had a seatbelt held her in place, her lower half would have been completely crushed.

Luckily the rest of auto technology has caught up to seat belts. That car was before they were designed to cr7mple and absorb around the passenger compartment. Modern cars are designed now to have the engine go under the car to protect the leg area.