Before there were seatbelts.

No seatbelts when I was growing up. When we went for a Sunday drive I would sit between my mom and dad in the front then crawl over the seat to the back for a nap.
I'm not sure when seat belts became a law in New Jersey but my son was born in 76 and my daughter in 78 and when we brought them home from the hospital I got in the car first and the nurse handed me the baby.
These days you have to have the proper seat attached in the back seat.
When my kids were small I'd put a blanket in the back of our hatchback Pinto and let them play as we drove.
I never gave it a thought. When I think of it now I break out in a sweat.
 
I have a funny store for you. When I was about five or six, we were having a family outing with my uncle and his family. They had a station wagon, much like what was shown in the opening article. The family decided they were going to make home made ice cream. We had to go get ice so jerry my cousin and I got in the back seat of the wagon and we went over to the city to get ice. Once there we got this big chunk of ice, it was about 12-16" square, along with some other items. Additionally they were going to make a picnic table so we stopped and picked up 2x4's as well. SO, the seat was folded down to make a flat cargo area, the tailgate was dropped , the 2x4's were slide in on each side and the ice was in the middle. Jerry and I was to set in the middle and hold everything in place as we went home. There was a hugh winding hill between this location and our house. The hill was/is hugh, I remember my father down shifting twice to get up the hill. Well jerry and I was back there playing around, not paying any attention and when uncle down shifted and then accelerated again everything shifted, including us. We caught the 2x4's, but not the ice. The ice went sliding down the hill and my uncle slowed down as we watched cars coming up the hill trying to swerve to miss the ice as it picked up speed going down the hill. My father took us home and he went back after ice. We became first acquainted with a lot of four letter words that day.
But we finally did make ice cream.
 
Our yearly vacation when I was little consisted of long car rides to destinations that my Dad and Mum wanted to visit. They'd fold down the back seat in our station wagon and put a bed back there. I'd spend most of the drive lying in the back reading. It was heaven!!

Of course, if any of MY kids wanted to do that, they'd have been subjected to a 10 minute lecture about how dangerous/against the law/lunatic that idea was. Times sure do change! 🤣
 
I remember making a trip to Vancouver as a young child, dear aunt behind the wheel, mom acting as co-pilot, and along the way, mom periodically reaching over the front bench seat to pluck baby sister from the back of the car to feed or change her.

So comical thinking about it now, but there dear aunt would be, talking a mile a second, and all while roaring down the open highway fudging the speed limit, and all while everyone else in the car did their own thing.

Anything went back in those days.
 
It didn't become mandatory to wear seatbelts in the UK until 1983... and then only front seat belts. Then in '89 the law changed to make it mandatory for children to wear seatbelts in the rear... and not until '91 did it become illegal for adults not to be strapped up in the rear..

When I was a kid we'd always travel in the back of the car without seatbelts ..very much like Ronnie's picture. I dread to think what might have happened if we'd been rear ended..
 
Aunt Marg said:
Had a great uncle who had a car that had lots of room like this... and yes, I spent all my time doing what this kid is doing when I went somewhere with him! LOL!

Remember being able to sleep in the back window? We were all over the car, it's a wonder we survived… | Childhood memories, My childhood memories, The good old days's a wonder we survived… | Childhood memories, My childhood memories, The good old days
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This really brought memories back of when I was young. My older brother got drafted into the Army during the Korean War. Every weekend we would drive to the Army base where he was stationed.
My older sister would fall asleep on the back seat and the only place for me was in the back window.
 
Seatbelts being installed in cars became mandatory in 1968, but it didn’t become mandatory in PA to wear them until 1987.

In PA, not wearing a seatbelt is a secondary offense, meaning that the driver will be ticketed for not wearing a seatbelt, as well as each passenger, but only if they were stopped for a first degree offense, such as speeding, running a red light or stop sign, etc.
 
needshave said:
Ronni,
2nd photo down, is that a Studebaker Station wagon?
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I have no idea. All I cared about was that we could ride in the back lol. My dad was very partial to Fords, I remember that. I know we had several Ford Falcons, but that doesn't look like it says Ford Falcon on the tailgate, does it? It seems like it says S........S........whatever that might mean.
 
Ronni said:
I have no idea. All I cared about was that we could ride in the back lol. My dad was very partial to Fords, I remember that. I know we had several Ford Falcons, but that doesn't look like it says Ford Falcon on the tailgate, does it? It seems like it says S........S........whatever that might mean.
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Thanks, I collect antique cars and that one caught my eye and my question was generated. I will try to investigate...I will let you know what and if I find it.
 
Sassycakes said:
This really brought memories back of when I was young. My older brother got drafted into the Army during the Korean War. Every weekend we would drive to the Army base where he was stationed.
My older sister would fall asleep on the back seat and the only place for me was in the back window.
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I'll bet it didn't hurt your feelings one little teensy-weensy bit. :)

Twas the best seat in the house as far as I'm concerned. LOL!
 
Before there were seat belts,
Drivers & passengers learned (the hard way) that in a crash, they become projectiles who faced surgeries & long, painful recoveries....if they recovered.
 
I can remember when seat belts were optional equipment, and my parents got a vehicle with the belts in the front. I asked them what would stop me riding in the back seat in the event of an accident, and they said the backs of their seats would stop me. Fortunately, I never had to find out!

I can also remember how hot those large early metal seat belt buckles became after baking in the sun during the summer months! 🙀
 
I remember riding in the back of the Subaru with my brother. We'd get trounced around back there pretty good but we had fun. My grandparents had a baby late in life and I remember them coming to get us and we had pillows and blankets in the back seat and we slept on the way home for my visit there in there summer.
 
911 said:
Seatbelts being installed in cars became mandatory in 1968, but it didn’t become mandatory in PA to wear them until 1987.

In PA, not wearing a seatbelt is a secondary offense, meaning that the driver will be ticketed for not wearing a seatbelt, as well as each passenger, but only if they were stopped for a first degree offense, such as speeding, running a red light or stop sign, etc.
Click to expand...

When did the shoulder belts come into play?
 

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