werepossum
Elite Member
- Jul 10, 2006
- 29,873
- 463
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Seat belts would probably have come along anyway, even if the government didn't require them.
SNIP
"Oh, I don't have to think for myself which product to buy because the government has regulated everything to the point that they're all perfectly safe". <-- This is a very dangerous and, unfortunately, a very real attitude in America.
Agree completely.
Seat belts came about way before a government mandate. Volvo had seat belts in the nineteenth century, literally before there WERE automobiles. American manufacturers offered them prior to the Model T. Automobile manufacturers such as Volvo, Nash, Chrysler, Ford, De Soto, and Saab among others offered them factory-installed (rather than after-market) before the federal government even thought about making them a requirement. Volvo in particular patented the modern three-point harness and offered it as an option before the federal government mandated even lap belts. Even when the federal government did mandate seat belts, it followed about half the state governments.
