YOU OWE
YOUR FAMILY
SAFETY
SEAT BELTS
(Continued)
Cornell University's automotive
crash-research experts, Using data from
California, have proved that proper
use of safety belts reduces chances of
death or serious injury in auto acci
dents by 35 percent
The occupant of the "death seat"
the person on the driver's right, who
usually gets the worst of it in an accl-
dent is benefited most by safety belts.
That, sir, may mean your wife or child.
But safety belts also save many drivers,
as previous examples show. And though
the back seat is safer than either place,
in front, belts more than earn their way
there, too. That's why Dr. John O.
Moore, outstanding safety expert now
with the Flight Safety Foundation, has
eight belts in his family car one for
his wife, one for each of his six chil
dren, one for himself, and they're al
ways strapped up whenever the car is
in motion. V
Belts keep passengers from being
thrown free in a crash; the chances of
death or serious injury are five times
higher when a person is thrown from
a car. But belts also offer other advan
tages and accomplish more than all
other safety devices designed for autos.
Padded instrument panels, dished
steering wheels, stronger door locks are
all worthwhile. But safety belts are it
making as much sense for those using
automobiles as hookup belts do for
window washers.
No wonder they are endorsed by the
National Safety Council, the U. S.
Public Health Service, and the Ameri
can Medical Association. Yet only 2 to
3 percent of passenger cars mostly
in police or commercial fleets are
equipped with safety belts.
A few years ago, the automobile in
dustry made a strong effort to in
terest car buyers in safety belts, which
cost about $30 for the minimum two
front-seat installations. A large maga
zine offered approved belts at bargain
rates. Both campaigns were duds.
As this is written, a renewed effort
to convert the public seems to be start
ing well. Safety councils and other
safety-minded civic groups in such
places as Oakland, Calif., and Fort
Wayne, Ind., report encouraging prog
ress with special programs reaching
both employee groups and individuals.
But apathy is still widespread.
Nobody knows just why. The usual
excuses for passing up safety belts are
obviously flimsy:
Excuse: "I'm afraid of being strapped
in a car on fire or under loafer."
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Answer: All approved safety belts
release at a finger-flick. In any case,
only one of 200 highway accidents in
volves either fire or submersion. In the
other 199 accidents, a safety belt is a
mighty healthy thing to be wearing.
Excuse: "I'm afraid of being strapped
into my convertible in a turnover."
Answer: Most serious accidents,
whether in convertibles or conventional
cars, are not turnovers. This fear plays
the odds the wrong way.
Excuse: "Safety belts give a driver
false confidence, making him take
worse chances than ever."
Answer: Sheer guesswork, probably
false. If it were true, would car-owning
companies install belts and thus en
courage reckless driving among their
employees?
An added effect of safety belts on
drivers, as any user can testify, is
to reduce long-trip fatigue for both
driver and passengers. Their backs are
held in proper, relation to the seat, and
they do not have to fight sidesway on
curves. This means that the man at the
wheel drives more safely, and the oth
ers enjoy themselves more. I'd want
safety belts for comfort alone, even if
the safety factor was totally absent.
But as I said before, I'm a missionary
for safety belts, and no doubt sound like
it. I won't apologize, though, for trying
to save lives.
I will offer a few more tips:
Buy the right belts for your car.
Some on the market may be too weak
for optimum protection. You can be
sure you're getting the best when the
belts are marked "SAE-SBA-4," mean
ing they have been made to the high
standards of the Society of Automotive
Engineers.
Once you buy the belts, don't let a
mechanic anchor them only to the seat -structure.
They must be bolted with
their own hardware to the steel floor-
board or through it to the car frame.
And get one for each passenger.
Maybe they'll never be tested in an
accident. But if they are, you'll join me
in preaching on behalf of safety belts
for every vehicle on the highway 1
9, o
My Solution to the
Safety-Belt Dilemma
By DAVE GARROWAY
I'm a car bug, aficionado, fan, perfec
tionist, collector, and have been for 30
years now. But I've never seen a car
like or, rather, I've never heard a car
like the one I have now. I say this
because if you don't know how to
drive it, the horn blows continuously.
Why? Let me explain. . '
The National Safety Council says
that if safety belts were used in all cars
not just installed, but used more
than 10,000 lives a year would be saved
in this country. The trouble is that only
a few percent of all automobiles have
safety belts and only about half of those
have their belts used regularly.
Why? People forget, I guess or don't
want to think about the possibility of
an accident even though they see one
almost every day. We still suffer from
that happy illusion that "it can't hap
pen to me only to somebody else." Of
course, that's nonsense.
I've solved that problem, I think, in
my car by electrically connecting the
two halves of the safety belt so that
only when they're joined will the horn
stop blowing after the ignition is turned
on. Forgetters get awfully tired of the
horn in about five seconds, so they put
the belt on, the horn stops, and off we
go in peace and quiet.
It is very simple to do, and it might,
save your life1 the only pne you have
this year, you know.
Family Wttkly. October It, I9C0
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Family Weekly, October IS, I960
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Tueiday 15. .
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