Before there were seatbelts.

Each and every one of us here should count our blessings for having survived any accidents or life-threatening incidents back in the day, when no one concerned themselves with seatbelts or safety.

Same goes for how we used to ride in the back box of pickup trucks.

I was I high-school and a group left for lunch one afternoon. In keeping with the times, they piled into the back of a students truck and off they went. A while later the driver rolled the truck, and one student died.

I get shivers sometimes when I think of all the times I rode in the back of pickup truck boxes, in the rear of station wagons, in the rear and front seat of cars, and riding the best seat in the house. So grateful I lived to tell about it, because some didn't.
 
Around 1968. At that time, they were uncomfortable & had to be constantly adjusted & tightened.

OK '68 makes sense. I bought a new Camaro in '67 and don't recall shoulder restraints.

I recall seat belts in some cars around '61. They went around the lower abdomen and many safety engineers opined that there was potential for abdominal injuries while not protecting the head.
 

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
OMG!!!!!! I completely forgot about this. Yup, that used to be my favorite sleeping place when we went on long trips. What's so amazing is how unbelievably irresponsible this is, today; yet back then, it was so unbelievably common, nobody thought it was dangerous.
 
OMG!!!!!! I completely forgot about this. Yup, that used to be my favorite sleeping place when we went on long trips. What's so amazing is how unbelievably irresponsible this is, today; yet back then, it was so unbelievably common, nobody thought it was dangerous.
Indeed, times have changed, and for the better, that is in the way of safety.

Those like us, Fuzzy, grew up in the best era of all as far as I'm concerned, be got to enjoy life as few kids will ever know today.
 
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’d forgotten that. It was like applying lava putting then on
 
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! 🙀
Yes, I remember that, too, just as I do how sizzling hot the vinyl seating itself would be when sitting down on it for the first time in a pair of shorts.
 
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.
In a Pinto, seatbelts wouldn't make any difference. The kids were sitting on top of an unprotected gas tank.
 

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