During the 1950s and 1960s, Ford, General Motors, Chrysler, and American Motors recognized the need to protect vehicle occupants during a crash. Thus, they made front-seat lap belts standard equipment in their vehicles. This realization of how critical seatbelts are was revolutionary as it had never been done on such a large scale.
At the time, seat belts were not a common sight in vehicles, and there was little to no recognition of their potential benefits in reducing fatal or serious injuries caused by car crashes. On the other hand, numerous studies had begun popping up that illustrated how effective they could be when averting injury and death on roadways.
Reacting to the research, four major U.S. car companies decided to include front-seat lap belts as standard in their cars – a move that faced some objections due to claims of them being unnecessary and even potentially hazardous. Despite this resistance, these manufacturers held fast to their commitment to providing customers with seat belt safety features they believed were crucial for driving protection.
A crucial step forward in the history of vehicular safety, front-seat lap belts becoming standard equipment marked a turning point: seatbelts are now an integral part of automotive protection systems. This underlying development opened up opportunities for additional sophisticated belt designs to be incubated and established later.
The four major U.S. auto manufacturers made an invaluable advancement in vehicle safety by outfitting their cars with front-seat lap belts as standard equipment. This decision increased awareness of seat belt use and widened access to them, eventually leading to fewer injuries and deaths caused by car accidents.
