| Author | Message | ||
     Vladimir Ivanovich Kirillov Grand Master Username: soviet Post Number: 1429 Registered: 2-2013 |
Somewhere in 1964 to 1967 when I was 8 to 11 I was in a major accident involving a 1962 Holden FC Ute t-boning a 1960s Chrysler Royal at about 40 mph. My head smashed straight into the metal dash of the Holden I was in. The Chrysler cut in front of us after failing to give way to the right. The Holden was a write off and the Chrysler drove away after the usual man on man shouting arguing tradition that was prevalent then in most if not all accidents. My forehead looked like Herman Munster's and I had a horrible headache. I was just wondering why it took decades after we crafty humans invented cars for a simple safety device that would have stopped my head hitting the metal dash to be fitted to cars and thereafter made compulsory by law. Had I not had a very tough cranium by nature I could have been injured more seriously. Some people who are unfortunate enough to have what called an egg shelled skull would have been killed instantly. Could the fact that seat belts came along some 60 years or there abouts after the inventing of the car be proof that the human race is indeed nowhere as smart as what we think we are? Could it be that we were conditioned to being smashed about silly in horse drawn carriages that the thought never occurred to us? I just don't know. It has me puzzled. | ||
| David Gore Moderator Username: david_gore Post Number: 3304 Registered: 4-2003 |
Your second last line says it all....... There was nothing between you and the horse to cause problems like those from hitting an enclosed metal dashboard during a collision. The first thing I did in 1965 when I got my driving licence was to get my father to install front seat belts in our 1962 XL Falcon. Of course Murphy's Law subsequently prevailed and they were never needed other than to keep me in place when cornering hard and fast - bench seats never had anything to stop you sliding sideways if you were unrestrained. This was even more important after I fitted Michelin radial ply tyres to replace the original cross ply tyres. Those were the days.................... . | ||
| Larry Kavanagh Grand Master Username: shadow_11 Post Number: 446 Registered: 5-2016 |
Was the Holden written off by the impact of Vladimir's head against the dashboard or by the collision with the Chrysler Royale or by a combination of both forces? | ||
| Mike Thompson Frequent User Username: vroomrr Post Number: 546 Registered: 04-2019 |
I knew Volvo was the first to use seat belts so I looked it up (I did't know why): Wiki The Swedish national electric utility, did a study of all fatal, on-the-job accidents among their employees. The study revealed that the majority of fatalities occurred while the employees were on the road on company business. In response, two Vattenfall safety engineers, Bengt Odelgard and Per-Olof Weman, started to develop a seat belt. Their work was presented to Swedish manufacturer Volvo in the late 1950s, and set the standard for seat belts in Swedish cars. The three-point seatbelt was developed to its modern form by Swedish inventor Nils Bohlin for Volvo—who introduced it in 1959 as standard equipment. In addition to designing an effective three-point belt, Bohlin demonstrated its effectiveness in a study of 28,000 accidents in Sweden. Unbelted occupants sustained fatal injuries throughout the whole speed scale, whereas none of the belted occupants were fatally injured at accident speeds below 60 mph. No belted occupant was fatally injured if the passenger compartment remained intact. Bohlin was granted U.S. Patent 3,043,625 for the device | ||
| Geoff Wootton Grand Master Username: dounraey Post Number: 2105 Registered: 05-2012 |
And what you forgot to mention is Volvo opened up the patent for any manufacturer to use free of charge. They could have made a fortune but decided the contribution to saving lives was more important than turning a profit. I'm not sure you would find such altruism these days. | ||
| John Kilkenny Grand Master Username: john_kilkenny Post Number: 312 Registered: 06-2005 |
When I was living in Boston in the early 80's the State Government passed a law making it compulsory to wear seat belts. At the next State Election a proposition was put to rescind the law and won. I don't know what the situation is today. | ||
| Mike Thompson Frequent User Username: vroomrr Post Number: 548 Registered: 04-2019 |
In 1967, states were required to enact helmet use laws in order to qualify for certain federal safety programs and highway construction funds. Three states (Illinois, Iowa and New Hampshire) do not have any helmet requirements. 28 states have laws covering some riders, usually people younger than 18. When I rode a motorcycle I always used a helmet. Of course I know quite a bit about physics. I see all these guys now a days thinking its cool to ride without a helmet, its like cigarettes, cool can get you killed. But in the USA you have the right to die (if it is not suicide). I communicated with a Congressman that it made no sense that to get nicotine you had to get a doctor's prescription (at that time), but you could go buy a pack of cigarettes. I said what needs to happen is that (because cigarette companies were caught manipulating nicotine) cigarette companies should be forced to take out all the nicotine in cigarettes to make it a choice to smoke not an addiction. He agreed and put forth a bill in for a law to be passed. Not long after that, instead of that law going to the President the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced nicotine was not harmful and it could be sold over the counter. |
