Seatbelts, car seats, feeling guilty confession

Fired up the Model A coupe with my 7month old grandson on my lap (his first time in the car). He seemed intrigued with the vibrations in the steering wheel and shifter. I couldn't help myself - we went for a cruise around the block in first gear My daughter would kill me if she knew The A has no seatbelts let alone a back seat for the car seat. She survived cruising all over Ca and cross country trips in a 57 Chevy with no belts but I realize belts are a cheap safety device. Do most of you install seatbelts? None of my pre 68 cars have them

 

All my cars have them, including the roadster. I feel naked in a car without them.

 

I install seat belts, as I don't like sliding across the seat when I power slide!

I took my now 26-year-old daughter for a ride in my 53 F-100 when she was about 3 years old. I wasn't going fast, but I had to stop suddenly, and her head hit the hard metal dash. Her head wasn't seriously hurt (she graduates from law school this spring), but that settled it for me: seat belts, period.

 

All my cars have them. A 7 month old kid doesn't have the opportunity to make the choice to wear one or not, so you have to do that for him.
Also, when your daughter was cruising with you in that 57 Chevy, when was that? Back when the USA was much less populated with cars and people?

I dont mean to sound harsh, just how I see it. How about starting the new year with a set of belts in that A?

 

Do it.

 

yep everyone of my rides has seatbelts..

 

Law school? You sure about that bump on the head?

Seriously, congrats, and for the record, I have belts in all cars and always will.

 

All my cars have seat belts. Danyelle wont ride unless I buckle her up !!

 

Go ahead and put belts in it. I did. I have a problem with going out the window. I'm not sure smashing my face on the dash/steering wheel is all that much better, but at leat I'll stay in the car

 

I have never worn a seatbelt in any car, and I'm not dead. I have them in my
68 chevy but will probably never use them. Don’t feel pressured to put them
in your Model A if you don’t want to. If you do put seatbelts in and don’t use
them and get pulled over the cop can give you a ticket for no seatbelt.

 

My baby boy has driven my a on my lap in the neighborhood (Very controlled yuppie environment). Good times. You're not a bad guy. Don't make a habit of it.

 

Ah more concerned about getting a ticket for not wearing a belt than getting hurt or killed. Darwin was right.
Watching my dog fly headlong into the dash in a 40 MPH panic stop convinced me. An old man here died 2 weeks ago in a slow speed passenger side impact accident. He was driving, not wearing a seatbelt and fell out of an SUV. A friend of mine flipped a Thunderbird and was thrown out. The car crushed him. Left a wife and 3 kids. Another friend was thrown out the window of a barrel rolling Fairlane. He survived but bashed his head up knocking several critical points off his I.Q. I've known him since highschool and He's a whole different guy now.

 

My 3yr old son told me (as he pointed his finger at me ) "You know I can't ride in here till you put my seatbelt in Dad", as I was getting ready to drive the wagon after I tuned it up. left the car in the driveway and went to the hardware store for nuts&bolts to install 6 sets of belts, 3 up front 3 in back, ....He's happy, and safe in his carseat.

 

You know, if you would have asked me 9 months ago if I would be installing seatbelts in my hot rod (31 Model A) I would have said HELL NO! Personally, I hate them, and I don't think they would do any good in a 300HP+ A without a roll cage! Now that I am going to have my first child (son), I have to re-think my original plan which was a no-brianer to me just 9 months ago. Don't feel too guilty, no one was hurt. Was it dangerous.... eh... I guarantee you one thing though, it will be a great story to tell when he is old enough to understand, and he'll love it!

 

Got em in mine. Even NHRA Drag cars put them in their rides.......and they are kinda cool too.

 

Seat belts are a must for me as well as helmet when on a bike. It only takes one accident to make you wanna wish you had.
I already lost a friend to not wearing one and one of my friends lost his entire family because of it.
I was wilder then hell Ive got the scars to prove it. But for some reason Ive always taken THAT precaution.
I might have dislocated my spine two inches and broken just about every bone in my body but it was for not wearing a seat belt!
Honestly if you dont want to wear one thats cool its your own life and decision but if theres a passenger they should have the option.

 

Jackass!!!

Put the belts in,, and use them. No one plans on having an accident, but if you do you will be a lot more likely to survive. I can't believe that there are still people who argue against them.

 

29 years ago my wife fell out of the 48 when I turned a corner and the door flew open. Yes she was sitting sideways in the seat and leaning on the door but it sure wakes you up when you see your bride go out the door backwards when the truck is moving. She still has the scar on her cheek from the gravel rash.
I vote for the belts, the 48 has them and anything else I build will have them. Plus we use them, once is enough.

 

I just wouldn't want to drive around with someone's kid knowing they wouldn't approve

 

better safe then sorry!

 

The new childrens car seats have extra hold down straps that actually have locking clips on them. Most new cars have hidden steel loops as part of the seat now. So instead of using a belt to hold the car seat in, you use the strap with the clip on it...just clip it onto the loop.

So if for some crazy reason you dont want belts in your car, at least weld in (or something along those lines) some metal loops for the clips so the kids can be safely strapped in while they watch the unbelted ones fly out the windshield.

 

Find a way to install shoulder belts.

Thanks,
Kurt

 

I got used to wearing seat belts a long time ago driving cars with big flat bench seats, when I got tired of sliding around on the seat going fast around corners. I feel funny not wearing a seat belt. With the bunch of morons on the road today, you gotta wear a seat belt. Even if you're the best driver in the world, that might not be enough to steer clear of the drunk idiots on the road, or the people I see every day eating a cheeseburger with one hand and talking on the cell phone with the other and driving with their elbows. The other day I was driving behind some bimbo in a Mustang that was putting eye makeup on in her rear view mirror while talking on her cell phone and swerving all over the highway going about 75 miles an hour on a bridge.

Yeah, having kids or grandkids sure changes your perspective about stuff like wearing seatbelts.

 

I wear my seatbelt everyday in my daily driver and my work truck , i wouldnt let my 2 1/2 year old daughter ride in any car w/o a car seat that is properly installed , but on the outher hand i dont plan on putting seatbelts in my 55 . I survived more than half of my 33 years never thinking about belting up , but since its the law now ( and a good idea) i do . I understand that being safe is being safe and we live in a different world now then when most of our rides were built but dont let anybody give you shit about giving the grand kid a ride around the block in first gear

 

If your daughter would kill you if she found out you'd taken him in the car without a seatbelt, imagine what she'd want to do to you if an oncoming car slammed head on into you and you crushed him between your body and the steel dash or the steering wheel of your rod.

Even my grown up kids won't ride in a car without their seatbelts done up, so I know my grandkids wouldn't. (And nor would I!)

Cheers, Glen.

 

Seat belts save lives. It's not just a slogan.
I could regale you with firsthand accounts of gory stories for pages. Sad stuff, like people who would have been uninjured in even a basic lap belt, but died very painfully instead. Without a belt, fatal accidents at 20 MPH are not uncommon (2 cars at 20 MPH = 40 MPH, you go through the window, and are between the cars for the secondary impact). The point of a seatbelt is a: keep you inside the steel shell and b: keep you where you can control the car.

Oh yeah - and seat belts are traditional hot rod upgrades. Which history buff here can tell us what year NHRA or SCTA first mandated them? I'm betting '55 or '56 at the latest.

No seat belts on anything but a trailered show car = stupid or suicidal. I even feel naked in my convertible (lap belts only).

 

Neither will Matthew. I plan to include shoulder harnesses in all four seats of my A tudor.

 

this is what i did in my fiance's 62 olds. the car seat is fully in. i would put belts in the car if we had the money. when i can afford it, i will put them in. i hate seat belts, but when it cames to the safety of my family, whats best for them is now best for me. so they will be put in soon.

 

I'm trying to convince my wife to let me buy an old station wagon or p/u. She always asks the same question, " Does it have the child seat anchors in the seats?" "No, but I'm sure there is a way to weld them in or just put seat belts in the thing" is always my answer. Then she says nothing and walks away. I'm all for the safety of children in cars but she is so hell bent on that damn anchor system. Could you really weld them between the seats of a late '50's early '60's wagon or car?

Brian

 

i can remember driving in the back of my parent's dodge wagon all the time with no belts then when they got the 9 passenger wagon with the 2 opposing rear seats it was even cooler .I bet we all wonder how we survived back then.Unfortunately an accident is just that you maybe perfectly innocent and it happens and they may not even save your life but it is a wise decision to install them .my 59 chevy wagon has 3 in the front seat with 3 pointers on both sides so the car seat for my little one can be secured and the back has 3 lap belts.don't know if i could live with myself if god forbid someone hit me and i didn't do my best to protect her. All the old cars are hazards compared to the new ones - metal dashes non collapsible columns etc..It is still not something i always wear just a bad habit but the little one always wears her's even for a trip around the block