Seatbelt Laws...

[Rev]

Originally Posted by bigred90gt

My dad used to tell us, when we were too young to know any different, that the truck wouldnt start without all the seatbelts buckled.

That actually was true sometime around mid to late '70's. It was called a "seat belt interlock". The front seats had weight sensors in them. If a person was seated in the front seat without the seat belt buckled, it worked like a neutral start switch without the car in neutral or park. The car wouldn't start without buckling up. These contraptions lasted only a short time (a few years?) and were always causing problems. You could defeat them by buckling the belt and then sitting on it, but alas, that was more trouble than actually using it.

And come to think of it, They actually fixed it in the next year or so after the governmental mandate so that the seat belt had to be slightly extended (unreeled enough to cover a skinny belly) when it was buckled to stop that trick.

Historical note: Rear seat belts were an optional extra in my car. I do have them though.

Rev