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I know I've mentioned it before, but I'm old enough that I remember the tail end of people insisting that seatbelts were dangerous.
You know, kind of like how anti-maskers now?
You know, kind of like how anti-maskers now?
There were always stories of some cousin's friend's brother's roommate's mother-in-law who wore a seatbelt, hit a patch of ice, and went sailing off into an unfortunately well placed nearby body of water, and promptly drowned.
I think I remember variations of this with accident happening and car catching on fire. Usually with the car upside down and the driver STUCK. Hung by their seatbelt! TRAPPED!
Such tragedy!
Such tragedy!
PRODUCTS were even sold capitalizing on that fear! Small tools that could cut through the seatbelt and break a window so you could set yourself free in case you happened to drive your car into a frozen river!
Let's not forget the horror stories of cracked ribs from sudden stops.
To which my dad correctly pointed out, you'd at least still be alive.
A cracked rib heals in time. You face planting on the pavement after being jettisoned from your windshield?
Not so much.
To which my dad correctly pointed out, you'd at least still be alive.
A cracked rib heals in time. You face planting on the pavement after being jettisoned from your windshield?
Not so much.
Crash test dummies (not the band) becoming a pop culture thing (with a video game!) was largely in part to a combo of education (look at how fucked up this thing got) + shame (don't be a dummy) PSA commercials.
And while they may have seemed silly, they seemed to be effective?
And sure, there were also traffic tickets for not wearing seat belts that likely became deterrents to not wearing one as well, but I'd like to think a bunch of kids seeing commercials during cartoons helped.
And sure, there were also traffic tickets for not wearing seat belts that likely became deterrents to not wearing one as well, but I'd like to think a bunch of kids seeing commercials during cartoons helped.
But yeah, seat belts, a thing that many of us likely don't think about much, used to be a HUGE deal with fake stories, MAH FREEDOM people, and people capitalizing on the fear generated by all of that.
H/T to @AnaMardoll for making me think of this with his thread about shame and the virus.
People endangering themselves & others because MAH FREEDOM despite clear evidence that a thing will help, is as old as... well... seatbelts at least.
(and yes, much older than that too)
People endangering themselves & others because MAH FREEDOM despite clear evidence that a thing will help, is as old as... well... seatbelts at least.
(and yes, much older than that too)
