Safety Belts In Cars

Press, Volume CII, Issue 30219, 26 August 1963, Page 10

Safety Belts In Cars

In deciding to include safety belts as standard equipment in motor-cars,

American manufacturers have set makers in other countries an excellent example that will, no doubt, be followed in due course. The evidence that in most accidents injuries can be avoided or their severity reduced by the use of belts seems conclusive. The case has, at least, been proved to the satisfaction of the insurance companies, which have not only the greatest knowledge of the subject but also good business reasons for seeking to reduce the rate of motoring casualties. The inclusion of belts as standard equipment fitted when cars are made will greatly reduce their cost, which has been loaded in the past by the need to

improvise anchorages. Indeed, it would be almost as good to have only the anchorages as standard equipment, so that owners could attach their own belts. The Americans have probably taken the lead because of the growth of high-speed motoring over vast distances in their country; but it is worth remembering that they also have a special difficulty because of their practice of building wide front seats to accommodate three persons. Though it may be some time before British and Continental manufacturers are able to provide this equipment on standard models, the American decision will greatly assist the efforts of the Transport Department in New Zealand to persuade owners to fit their own belts as a sensible precaution.