Driving Me Crazy... Kids...

Well all I got to say is that times have certainly changed from when I was a kid or even from when my kids were kids. This is not to say that saftey for the little guys is not warrented or that something is wrong with someone who does whatever is necessary to keep them safe.

We used to practice the panic arm a lot. Hit the brakes and the right arm goes out to grab whomever is in the passenger seat. granted in high school it was all about copping a feel but it came from an age old saftey standard, honest.

I still remember when I found out that my grandaughter was too old for me to do that. Too fast to nothing in the Pusher. I made damded sure she was wearing her seat belt ever after that.

Very goood advice my friend. I hope that everyone learns something from it.

 

I've been through the same stuff. When my son was born, 8-1/2 years ago, my daily was a 55 Plymouth. I had put seat belts in before that, and he rode in the front seat(rear facing) because it was just easier than getting into the back of the two door car. When my daughter came along three years later, I put both of the seats in the back. Latches make all the difference. Now that my third is 1-1/2 I've switched my daily to a roomier 50 Chrysler two door. Works out nice, but that stink eye out comes even if the kids are in the back seat of an old car.

The kids like riding in the older cars, especially when their friends see them My son really likes showing up to baseball practice in my Model A too.

 

Finally someone who gets it! You've made great points Ryan and hit on almost my exact feelings....that a lot of people don't understand. It's the times we live in and it's different from the old days. For good and bad. I cherish being able to share my old rides with my kids but I also want to make sure they can be as safe as I can. As it sounds like you do too.

That was a refreshing read for an early morning. Thanks for that.

 

Pertinent topic that is worth addressing. I remember mom, dad, and us five boys making the two hour holiday trek every year in our '64 Impala to visit family. Mom and Dad up front, three older brothers in the rear seat, younger brother and I on the floor in back. Those were the days, good ones too.

I'm now facing the quandry of a 14 year old son learning to drive and aching to get behind the wheel of my/our '62 truck. I'm really on the verge of pulling the lap belts and installing three point restraints.

 

Do it Slackcat. If you don't and something happens....
The even coating of assholes on the roads is getting
thicker, at least in my area.

 

I had some guy pull alongside my Rambler in traffic last summer and give me a blast of shit because my daughter was riding up front. "That's Ill-Eagle" he whined in his nasal, effeminate voice. There are only belts in the front and no air-bags. GFY.

 

Been there, doin' that! Put in the 3 point harness and replace the steering column with a later model. Good time to upgrade to a tilt. That column can become a spear. Bought a big window cab '65 that had hit a Toyota at about 45. Damn near killed the kid driving. Hardly any damage to the cab but broke the frame horn. The Toyota crushed but the driver walked away. 3 point belts really help. Went thru 2 sets of aftermarket belts before finding a good one. Good luck!

 

Great stuff Ryan. We raised our kids in the no seat belt, baby seats that merely hooked over the back of the seat era. We made it, but I don't know how. I drove like a fool and drank like a fish with or without the kids and my wife in the car. I was an idiot, but we made it. It is refreshing to see people take the safety of their families as a serious matter. I was lucky. Do your homework and protect your families.
Later,
Dick

 

Sadly, I think my old driver truck just isn't made to safely transport little kids. My oldest is almost 6 and hasn't ridden in it more than a block up the deadend street. It would need a lot of rehab work to get it to a point of comfort for me to drive them around in it and I haven't had the time or money to do it since they were born. I have a modern car to drive them around. Given my situation, that was clearly the best option for me. My wife and I split school transportation duties so using the old truck for that just really isn't realistic.

 

Great advice. I don't understand how a new car with all that plastic and not much steel is suppose to be safer than the old shit we drive anyway. Just because your new Volvo Coke-can has self inflatable whoopie-cushions does not mean that it will hold up to any sort of impact with my Ford tank. Cafe standards have killed more kids than the people like us in the old shit that we drive. Just my two cents....

 

If i may. I dont have kids so i might not fully get the apprehension that a parent goes through, but i have 3 dogs and i know how much i worry for their safety when the right, or wrong, time comes, so i would guess kids would cause similar "worry feelings"

This said, as much as its true that today streets, compared to those of even 30/40 years ago, are way overfilled with traffic of which a vast majority is made up of complete retards that are either unable to drive or they simple dont give half a shit about anybody but themself, and that our old cars are for some aspects weaker and less safe than most modern veichles, im still positive that we live in a society that makes scaremongering one of his primary agendas, making us believe that no matter what, we are always unsafe and runnin risks as fear is the number one control tactic.
Anyways, i like new cars too, so all in all it can be good as long as they get a chance to live the old cars somehow. Lets say i would never make such a choice only because "what if"

 

Being responsible and safe is key for any parent and grandparent. I have always made it a point to install seatbelts in my old cars. Being an alert and safe driver when they are in the car is also important. My kids and now my grand kids always enjoyed being able to ride in our old cars.
The car seats can be a pain but we always found the right way to make them work. I am finally down to booster seats with the grandsons and next year the oldest can ride with just a seatbelt.
Cruisin with my kids and grand kids will always be fond memories for me.
If you can't fit them in the car, you can always try the trunk.

 

Risk is part of life. Even belted in, you run the risk of death every time you hit the road. With that said, we all rode around in the beds of pickups, or joyfully bouncing around in the back of the station wagon...guess what, we're here! But back then, driving a car meant being fully involved in the process. No ABS, no GPS, no heated seats. Manual brakes and steering. And (gasp!) you actually shifted your own gears! You actually paid attention to driving then! Imagine that!

These days, there are so many "automatic" functions in a modern car, plus all of the built-in distractions such as cellphones and such, that defensive driving is that much more imperative just to keep from getting T-boned at the intersection by some dumbass texter! All one has to do in a modern car is push the "start" button, aim, and go. The car "does everything" for them. No talent, no skill, no brains.

I get very nervous driving or riding in a car without belts. They've saved my ass twice; both times in the late '70s, before being belted was a mandatory thing. Racing was what got me into the belt habit, and I press the benefits of belts anytime I can. If you have a car or truck from the pre-belt era, there is nothing wrong with installing seat belts. No one is going to give you crap about installing belts. If they do, they're ignorant as hell.

Sharing the hot rod experience with little kids is a ton of fun! What better way to do that by installing belts and taking them out for a spin. When my kids were little, riding to school in my Dodge was the best part of their day, as their friends watched them pile out of the car.

 

I had a forward-facing child seat in the back of my '54 Buick when Boy Wonder was in pre-school... Riding back there, in the center of that HUGE bench, with his little wrap-around shades and jean jacket... he was the epitome of cool. And he knew it.

Low-compression 264 with straight pipes... I fired it up one morning, and heard from the back seat "I LOVE that sound."

It's been a dozen years since then, but I never got the stink-eye from anyone... or if I did, I just ignored it.

As soon as he was out of the car seat, he was riding up front with me, in a lap belt, and since he was 10, the '61 Suburban was his daily... lap belts, and he always rode in the front seat.

I DID get the constant lecture from my parents... even though I vividly remember taking naps in the package tray when I still fit up there.

Like you, I've always driven defensively as a mother fucker, especially with him in the car.

And in the back of my mind, a small part of me always wondered if I was being irresponsible for the sake of being cool.

But that wasn't it at all... I've always done things to build memories with him, even in the simple things like going to the hardware store with dad...

Remember when you were a kid, and what a treat it was to ride in the front seat with Dad? An entire generation missed out.

When I was a kid, riding up front, there was always one thing I could count on--at some point during the trip, out of the blue, my dad would clap his right hand down on my left knee, wrap his fingers around my leg just above the knee, and start squeezing--just like you tickle a little kid where his shoulder meets his neck. I'd squeal and laugh and fight to get that iron grip pried off my leg... just once per trip, and it was the thing I most looked forward to.

His dad did it to him, and I did it to Boy Wonder. Three generations of "Ride With Dad" tradition. Three generations of the mile stone of finally being strong enough to pry dad's fingers away before you were completely weak with laughter. Three generations of Dad sneaking it in there, three generations of Boy trying to thwart it.

I'll forever cherish watching my son out of the corner of my eye, over a couple years of driving, as he was finally able to rest his arm on the top of the door with the window down and ride just like me... even though his elbow was above his ear... just like I rode like my dad when I was that age.

And I watched again over the years as his arm made the transition from being able to reach the vent window frame with his hand, now that his ear was a little higher in the seat... and the silent triumph and pride on his face as he was finally able to touch the top of the window frame and we were able to ride down the road symmetrically... even if it was only his finger tips that were touching the top of the window frame.

I remember all those milestones from my childhood, and I'll be damned if I was going to deny those memories and triumphs from my son.

Of the three of us boys, I'm the only one who continued those traditions... my brothers have bubble-wrapped and hand-sanitized their children into a perfectly safe little cocoon of a world, because they're "responsible parents, and it's a different world."

Well, I like the old way of doing things... Boy Wonder had a pocket knife when he was 5, his own wood saw when he was 6, a BB gun when he was 7... and he by-God rode in the front seat any time I had to run an errand.

I hope he continues the family tradition.

-Brad

 

You'd think so, but you'd be wrong:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cJrXViFfMGk


And the new Volvo is a lot safer than that 2009 Malibu.

As Ryan said, drive defensively.

 

Its funny I remember when my dad was buying his new 67 barracuda he had the dealer install seat belts and we wore them. Here in Mo thay made it mandatory to wear seat belts some time back and it pissed my dad off and he stoped wearing them. His though was no one was going to tell him he had to do something. It could have been from spending his life in the army. I think my wife still does the right arm thing and both boys are adults now. I think thay should stop trying to protect us from are selfs and theach people how to drive a fucking car seriously and not casually.

 

I don't think I've ever gotten the stinkeye. Parents and kids always loved it when I showed up dropping my oldest off in my old 1962 Cadillac. Maybe I got a few jealous eyes from the dads...Now driving the 1972 GMC is different because the boys are in the front but they love it and I have shoulder belts. Sometimes my wife is a little leary of it all but I like driving old cars and it's really what I can afford anyway.

 

That's a fair point, but you speed both those cars up another 30 mph in that video and nobody survives. You let me know the next time you hear of someone surviving a head-on crash on the highway in any car.

 

I agree with this. In fact I think people in general have become worse drivers because they're so used to their car telling them what to do that they don't take the time to really pay attention to what's going on around them on the road.

My daily is a '64 Marauder, and I have a 4 year old son. At first I got shit from his day care when I went to drop him off, but then they realized that I was one of the very few parents not glued to their phone, messing with the radio, or nearly hitting other cars or children because of a lack of paying attention while pulling up in the morning or afternoon.

I can't believe that any of those parents would even consider putting their children and other people's children at risk of getting hurt or worse over a text message, and they still had the nerve to chastise me for driving an "outdated car with no new safety features" I AM the safety feature, because I actually know how to operate a vehicle correctly. Seat belts do help, and aren't hard at all to install, however, no amount of safety features is going to save that poor kid running out in front of your car because you're too damn stupid to take your eyes off of facebook to drive.

Wether you have kids in the car or not, safe driving comes from paying attention to what you're doing, and what others around you are doing. Sure, there are a lot of idiots on the road, always has been and always will be, but if you're paying attention and driving defensively then you are at a much lower risk of getting into an accident and hurting yourself or others.

 

I have a 2 1/2 year old as well as a 7 month old and I think about this quite often. My hot rod is a model a roadster which isn't running yet so riding around with the youngin's isn't an option yet. I truly believe that very few newer cars have any soul or character, but they are certainly safer. I also find it ironic that our leaders and lawmakers ( society's babysitters) are constantly pushing us to drive smaller and smaller vehicles yet mandate us to put a rearward facing seat that barely fits into a large SUV without scooting the front seat all the way forward. I think everyone made a good point in that the biggest danger is the other drivers on the road and your ability to drive defensively and accept risk.


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I drive my 57 plymouth as much as I can with my three kiddos in the back and they love it. I installed seat belts for them so its safe a legal.I get alot of people giving the thumbs up and the occasional stink eye but I just tell myself that its probably because they dont have an old car to drive in. Lol

 

raymay, great pics!

 

I am not a parent, and NEVER will be. But I did grow up riding around in thwe family's small fleet of "T" buckets, our '40 coupe, our '57 Ranchero, etc. My '48 has at one time or another had kid seats in it to transport my nephews around, but I don't remember ever getting the "stink eye" from anyone for that... If I did, it would have been followed by a simple "mind your own F**kin' business middle finger"! Yes, my nephews did learn some of the finer points of being free from me. I can't imagine NOT allowing a kid the joys of experiancing what we do. Worrying about about how anyone views myself and the things I choose to do is about as high on my list as - well, nothing.

 

Were at the beginning stages of all this at the moment too, my lil girl is 6 months old, i drive a 34 p/u all summer and the wife has a 65 el camino, and we have a HHR, well obviosly the car Ardun is riding around in is the HHR, but we are working on a 59 olds 2 door hardtop so we will have an old car to go to shows with and cruise around, we too both work at home so outings are alot less, and we too live in a less busy area and alot less traffic and i also drive deffensively, which to me is something someone with an old car does anyways, just with a baby in it will be alot more.

I think anyone is in danger in any car for certain types of accients, no matter the safety features, the biggest thing is to do the best you can not to get in a crash, pay attention, drive better, be smarter etc etc, ive been lucky (knock on wood) and have never been in a accident, ill try and keep it that way as long as i can.

JEFF

 

I get those looks too:



I still haven't gotten around to doing the LATCH thing. I'll wait 'til the next car to figure out where to put the tether anchor.

 

I wouldnt know how check the air in a tire without that light coming on the dash telling me one was low.....heaven forbid you could tell the thing doesnt handle as well......or worse ....walk by it and see it might look soft....

Ill take a defensive driver in a mantained old car over some of the new beat up junk I see driving around. And theres nothing wrong with teach your kids in them ether....if you learn with abs and traction control.....how does this help in a crisis.

 

No kids,no problems.Dr. snip snip kept me out of that jackpot.As far as safety is concerned,these old cars brake better than they used to and handle way better,too.When I was a kid,my Dad had to hit the brakes so hard,I flew forward and my noggin got a Pontiac logo as an imprint.He laughed,I looked in the mirror and thought it was pretty cool.And other than this nervous twitch I've had for the last 40 years....

 

Thanks for this article. I'm doing the latch's soon.

 

Yup - first thing I did when my Chevy rolled into my garage was install child seat anchors in the back for Junior. Going for a cruise without him is way less fun. He figured out how to roll down the back window with his foot and likes to yell "Hi girls!" as we roll past.

I put three point belts in the front seats recently too. Purists give me shit for it not being traditional. They are A) correct, of course, and B) douches.

And congrats to my unnamed friend on his impending father-ness.