Retrofitting seat belts, if provided (question of the week)
It took until the 1960s for seat belts to become established in cars, and they were by no means mandatory everywhere until the 1970s. Today, hardly any driver can imagine a car without these textile lifesavers. When seat belts became mandatory, the legislator decided not to make retrofitting compulsory for older cars. As a result, many classic cars are still on the road today without seat belts.
But what do today's owners think? What about a possible retrofit, especially as there is a conflict between safety and originality? We got to the bottom of this issue with the following " Question of the Week" : Would you retrofit seat belts in your classic car?
461 readers responded to this question. And they are clearly in favor of more safety, as over 62% are in favor of retrofitting seat belts.
24.1% prefer the safety of modern three-point seat belts to originality.
28.4% are in favor of retrofitting seat belts if no changes to the vehicle structure are necessary, i.e. if the appropriate mountings are available.
9.3% would retrofit belts that comply with the specifications of the time.
Around 32% are rather or clearly against retrofitting, either because they doubt their effectiveness in the old car (10.8%), or because it counteracts the authentic driving experience or because the belts are/were already fitted (6.3%).
5.4% were unable to answer any of these questions.
Safety before originality, but in bulk, seems to be the common denominator.
Here is the graphical representation of the answers.
We have already posed the next " question of the week" , which is: Are you interested in historic motorsport and its history?
And of course you can still read all the previous results of the "Question of the Week " in the corresponding topic channel.
