I always use seat belts and have since 1956 when I installed a set in my '47 Ford coupe, driver side only, given to me by my insurance company. The insurance companies and Ford were trying to promote safety but the belts didn't sell well for Ford. We called them safety belts mostly, not seat belts back then. They didn't have the upper belt as today. Was really cool firing up my coupe ('Hollywood' mufflers) in the high school parking lot, then making a big deal of buckling up. Racer.
When I got my 60 chevy, I drove it home and checked it all over, I decided it was good to go and drove it all that summer. I told my wife and her best friend they could take it on one of their girl excursions and they said no. I asked why not and they said it did not have SEAT BELTS! That suprised me! well any way I have put seat belts in almost any thing I had but I was fine with the chevy until the rebuild. It is in the process now and it does have belts now! Gary
I have used seat belts before they came standard in cars and before it was law. Just feels wrong without them.
I wear mine to honor those that I know who crashed and died needlessly. an old girlfriend, my 15yr old nephew, a high school buddy. all died in very survivable crashes, had they not been ejected from their cars.
Everyone should wear their seat belt when driving. I was at Daytona a few years ago doing the Richard Petty driving school deal and some guy asked if he had to wear the seat belt and shoulder harness stuff and they told him you don't have to wear it but you also won't be allowed on the track!!! If you ever get a chance try the Petty School it's really a great deal of fun. I got up to 147 mph and had the time of my life doing it. Jimbo
You blew that prediction and frankly I feared you would be right and get closed but it is on topic and a safety issue. HRP
Check out Julianos webpage besides the seat belts and hardware kits they have a good how to section might help you with the install.
I always wear them. We have a great Collector car program here that requires seat belts. I've been up and over a couple of times in my life and i believe the belts work to keep a person in place. I have lap belts in my coupe, but wish i had taken the time to install the attachment point for the three point system. We are all getting older and it would be a shame to loose guys because of an accident instead of old age!
I'm going the extra yard and putting shoulder belts in as well in my 50 shoe. I know it takes away from the tradition look but i feel it's the way to go. This is a different age we live in.
I've had 4 friends die in rollovers when they weren't belted in. Three of them were hardheads who refused to have the government tell them what to do. They would likely still be alive if it was illegal to wear seat belts. The fourth was a guy who usually wore his belt and nobody knows why he didn't have it on when he got hit and knocked off the road. I wear them because I feel the vehicle can withstand a lot more punishment than my body can.
yes i have belts in my cars and we wear them! I think Iowa law says 1966 and older dont have to have belts, but if it has belts you have to wear them.
Seat belts in everything I own, why not??? Should you have an injury accident, in most states you are responsible for 40% (or something like that) of your injuries if you were not wearing a seat belt even if it was not your fault.
I have to thank Ryan for reopening this thread. I think lap belts look good with bomber seats but I would feel better with 3 point. Not sure how that would work with bomber seats, I would think the low back seat and the upper belt might not work. Has anyone done this?
Im guilty of this....I have been driving my 57 Dodge daily driver with no seat belts for over 5 years now, and about a year ago I was T-boned by a Honda doing 50MPH, I was actually surprised by how I did not move at all in my seat. but as the time went on I realized how stupid it was to even chance it, even though I thought I was "sticking it to the government" by not wearing belts, I was really just hurting my wife and daughter. I am also guilty of procrastination... I have been telling myself since the accident that I am going to put belts in it, but every time I would buy some new little doodad to put on the truck, and I would feel guilty afterwards, knowing I should have bought belts for it. Right now Im stuck for a year without my hotrod, But I want to make it my top priority to go down to So-Cal speed shop in PHX when I get back from being Deployed to Korea, and buy me a set of Belts that I have looked at for $40 bucks and have put them back on the shelf after carrying them around the store, until I find something "shiny". I hope by confessing this, It will be the first step to admitting I have a problem. I want to be around as long as my truck has and the best tool/part for that to happen is a belt, I was lucky and got a second chance, so did my truck. I thank God we both lived to race another day...
I have been a police officer for 24 years, I have seen people wearing seat belts walk away from horrific accidents and seen others without belts die from what I though was a fender bender. Steve
Being American I love my freedom and respect others. Also I am a law enforcment officer and know the benifits of seat belts. I never push the seatbelt laws except on children. However the rate of survival even in minor accidents are greatly improved by wearing them.
I don't have them in my roadster (avatar)..Because its registered as a '26, the DMV inspector said I didn't have to have them... But the more I drive this car the more I think I want them...On one hand , I'm not sure I want to be strapped in with no top and a fuel tank right behind my head..Then again, I'm not sure I want to be thrown out of it either..Since its ingrained to use them in all my other OT cars, every time I start on a drive I feel like somethings wrong.. I would welcome any opinions,experiences, thoughts, etc on belts in a car like mine Stan
I never wore seat belts. A product of the 60's I guess where we used to ride around laying on the package chelf in the rear window. In 2001 my BMW convertible flipped over end over end four times and landed upside down ripping the top and the side glass off and flattening the windhield. I stayed in the car by grabbing the bottom of the steering wheel and jamming my feet under the dash just like I did a hundred times in the dream I had about flipping my car. I never had the dream after that. The only reason I am alive is that the centrifical force was minumal in the end over end flipping. Even after that I still didn't wear my seat belt. But now I am trying so hard to trainmyself to wear it, and it's hard. I am driving the first car that I have not disabled the seat belt buzzer. I have always made my kids wear them. It's just plain stupid. I know it. but change is hard and it's almost like quiting smoking. I am working on it though.
I have them in the wifes '41 international, but not in my T Bucket, and like Tubro26T I don't think I want to tie in the car if something should happen. Then on the other hand I think it would be good in a side or rear end impact, but not a roll over also my gas tank, and battery are behind me in the pu box.
So, if something happens and you go through a ditch getting thrown into the back seat, Who's driving? I'd rather stay strapped behind the steering wheel where I'm driving.
Part of my job is to go to high school health and drivers ed classes throughout nine counties explaining that the most likely way they will die until they are in their mid 30s is by auto crash. And in Missouri, only 2/3rds of teen drivers buckle up - far lower than the near 80 percent for the population as a whole. Another thing: If only one person isn't belted in, they become a wrecking ball slamming into other passengers if there is a rollover. Buckle up, everyone, every time.
I have them and use them,but being in a roadster without a rollbar,I often wonder if it would be safer not to have them if the car was involved in a rollover??????
Here in California the law says you have to wear seatbelts. I wouldn't be caught dead without them. Here is the minimalist version.
Choices. The right to chose. You do not smoke, alcoholic, or drink and drive ever, right? No dope, legal or otherwise?
I put lap belts in my T-Bucket and we use them every time we ride. Like others, I have used them before they were required and have installed them in other cars I have previously owned. There is little or no impact protection in a small car with a fiberglass body and we don't have a roll bar but I would still rather take my chances by staying in the car instead of being ejected. One issue that hasn't been mentioned is where is the best place to anchor the belts. I made brackets that bolt to the frame and bolt to the anchors through the floor. I have had some people tell me that they should be bolted only the the floor because the body could come off and injure you because you are tied to the frame, Any thoughts or experiences?
The last time I check the ill.law it was anything below a 1966 did not have to have seat belts.But if they were in the car u had to have them on.
I learned the wisdom of wearing seatbelts after putting my knees through the dashboard of a friend's car during an accident while riding shotgun (sitting on the belt). A word of advice: some of us are using used, old or miltary surplus belts because a vintage or period correct appearance is desired. The webbing on these can deteriorate due to age, abuse, UV exposure, etc., and can fail at far below the rated load factor. Having the belts reconditioned with new straps is money well spent. I had a set done a few years ago and they came back looking like NOS pieces ... new web, refurbished hardware, etc. and the cost wasn't bad. Seat belts are like parachutes ... you don't want to find out that they are defective the first time you really need them.
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