3 ms·

I never had to wear a seatbelt in the back of the car when I was growing up, regularly used to travel in the boot. Now kids are in a cacoon.

ghaff 3y ago
Growing up in the 60s, we never wore seatbelts in the car and it's not like there were even airbags or a zillion other safety features that there are in modern cars. It's easy to make fun of some of the safety obsession we see in society but the fact is that if you look at some dangerous toys list of years past, a lot of them we wouldn't have today for mostly pretty good reasons.
- maxwell 3y ago
  Was wondering if seat belt laws would be evident in the data, just eyeballing it looks like 1989-92 decreases in motor vehicle fatalities [1] could line up with the rise of state bans starting in 1984 [2]. But seeing a pretty linear decline from 1921 to 2021 and looks like big annual drops in fatalities are more connected to economic conditions than safety features (i.e. only double digit % drops I'm seeing are 1932, 1938, 1942, 1943, 1974, 1982, and 2008). So the drop in the late 1980s into the early '90s may've had more to do with the early '90s recession. 1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Motor_vehicle_fatality_rate_in_U.S._by_year https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Motor_vehicle_fatality_rate_in... 2. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seat_belt_laws_in_the_United_States https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seat_belt_laws_in_the_United_S...
  - ghaff 3y ago
    There are a ton of confounding variables. All the other safety features. As you say, maybe differences in miles driven because of recessions/fuel price spikes. DUI/DWI becoming less socially acceptable, at least in many segments of society. The overall evolution of attitudes towards risk. I wouldn't expect the laws themselves to have a huge effect. They mostly trailed public opinion, enforcement was limited, and penalties small if someone really didn't want to wear a seat belt.
    - deleted 3y ago
      [deleted]
maxwell 3y ago
Car seats as contraception: https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3665046#.X3S8TqU6fa0.twitter https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3665046#...
lotsofpulp 3y ago
I love the mom with a baby in the front seat at 15 seconds in this video implying that DUI and seat belt laws will lead to communism. https://www.reddit.com/r/interestingasfuck/comments/10vc5jt/people_in_the_80s_react_to_new_laws_against/ https://www.reddit.com/r/interestingasfuck/comments/10vc5jt/...
fitzroy 3y ago
As kids, we were usually in the back of a Ford pickup on I-95 bouncing around in a sea empty beer cans. My mom was very safety conscious, however, so we were forbidden from sitting on top of the wheel wells.

ghaff 3y ago

Growing up in the 60s, we never wore seatbelts in the car and it's not like there were even airbags or a zillion other safety features that there are in modern cars. It's easy to make fun of some of the safety obsession we see in society but the fact is that if you look at some dangerous toys list of years past, a lot of them we wouldn't have today for mostly pretty good reasons.

maxwell 3y ago
Was wondering if seat belt laws would be evident in the data, just eyeballing it looks like 1989-92 decreases in motor vehicle fatalities [1] could line up with the rise of state bans starting in 1984 [2]. But seeing a pretty linear decline from 1921 to 2021 and looks like big annual drops in fatalities are more connected to economic conditions than safety features (i.e. only double digit % drops I'm seeing are 1932, 1938, 1942, 1943, 1974, 1982, and 2008). So the drop in the late 1980s into the early '90s may've had more to do with the early '90s recession. 1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Motor_vehicle_fatality_rate_in_U.S._by_year https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Motor_vehicle_fatality_rate_in... 2. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seat_belt_laws_in_the_United_States https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seat_belt_laws_in_the_United_S...
- ghaff 3y ago
  There are a ton of confounding variables. All the other safety features. As you say, maybe differences in miles driven because of recessions/fuel price spikes. DUI/DWI becoming less socially acceptable, at least in many segments of society. The overall evolution of attitudes towards risk. I wouldn't expect the laws themselves to have a huge effect. They mostly trailed public opinion, enforcement was limited, and penalties small if someone really didn't want to wear a seat belt.
  - deleted 3y ago
    [deleted]

maxwell 3y ago

Car seats as contraception: https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3665046#.X3S8TqU6fa0.twitter https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3665046#...

lotsofpulp 3y ago

I love the mom with a baby in the front seat at 15 seconds in this video implying that DUI and seat belt laws will lead to communism. https://www.reddit.com/r/interestingasfuck/comments/10vc5jt/people_in_the_80s_react_to_new_laws_against/ https://www.reddit.com/r/interestingasfuck/comments/10vc5jt/...

fitzroy 3y ago

As kids, we were usually in the back of a Ford pickup on I-95 bouncing around in a sea empty beer cans. My mom was very safety conscious, however, so we were forbidden from sitting on top of the wheel wells.