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Did they though? The three-point seatbelt was invented in 1959 and became mandatory in the United States in 1966.

sumeno 2y ago
Lap belts existed well before that
eesmith 2y ago
Three-point seat belts were not mandatory in 1966. The first law was in 1968 and it required only lap and shoulder seat belt assemblies in each front outboard seating position. Other seating positions could have lap or lap and shoulder seat belt assemblies. https://web.archive.org/web/20140529033515/http://www.nhtsa.gov/cars/rules/import/fmvss/ https://web.archive.org/web/20140529033515/http://www.nhtsa.... And that was only required as part of the standard equipment. People were not required to use them. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seat_belt_laws_in_the_United_States https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seat_belt_laws_in_the_United_S... says "Seat belt use was voluntary until New York became the first state to require vehicle occupants to wear seat belts, as of December 1, 1984." Nor were all passengers required to use three-point seat belts. https://www.consumerreports.org/car-safety/anatomy-of-the-modern-seat-belt/ https://www.consumerreports.org/car-safety/anatomy-of-the-mo... says it wasn't until 1989 that "Cars are required to have three-point lap-and-shoulder belts in the outboard rear seats." From 1959 to 1989 is 30 years. FWIW, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seat_belt https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seat_belt notes: > The first modern three-point seat belt (the so-called CIR-Griswold restraint) commonly used in consumer vehicles was patented in 1955 U.S. patent 2,710,649 by the Americans Roger W. Griswold and Hugh DeHaven. before later saying: > The three-point seat belt was developed to its modern form by Swedish inventor Nils Bohlin for Volvo, which introduced it in 1959 as standard equipment. The 1955 US patent can be seen at https://patents.google.com/patent/US2710649A/en https://patents.google.com/patent/US2710649A/en .

Lap belts existed well before that

Three-point seat belts were not mandatory in 1966. The first law was in 1968 and it required only lap and shoulder seat belt assemblies in each front outboard seating position. Other seating positions could have lap or lap and shoulder seat belt assemblies. https://web.archive.org/web/20140529033515/http://www.nhtsa.gov/cars/rules/import/fmvss/ https://web.archive.org/web/20140529033515/http://www.nhtsa.... And that was only required as part of the standard equipment. People were not required to use them. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seat_belt_laws_in_the_United_States https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seat_belt_laws_in_the_United_S... says "Seat belt use was voluntary until New York became the first state to require vehicle occupants to wear seat belts, as of December 1, 1984." Nor were all passengers required to use three-point seat belts. https://www.consumerreports.org/car-safety/anatomy-of-the-modern-seat-belt/ https://www.consumerreports.org/car-safety/anatomy-of-the-mo... says it wasn't until 1989 that "Cars are required to have three-point lap-and-shoulder belts in the outboard rear seats." From 1959 to 1989 is 30 years. FWIW, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seat_belt https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seat_belt notes: > The first modern three-point seat belt (the so-called CIR-Griswold restraint) commonly used in consumer vehicles was patented in 1955 U.S. patent 2,710,649 by the Americans Roger W. Griswold and Hugh DeHaven. before later saying: > The three-point seat belt was developed to its modern form by Swedish inventor Nils Bohlin for Volvo, which introduced it in 1959 as standard equipment. The 1955 US patent can be seen at https://patents.google.com/patent/US2710649A/en https://patents.google.com/patent/US2710649A/en .