Saturday, April 20All That Matters

1983: SEAT BELTS become COMPULSORY in the UK | BBC Archive

by GameStunts


1983: SEAT BELTS become COMPULSORY in the UK | BBC Archive




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17 Comments

  • srubbish

    Taxi drivers bleated about the need to be exempt because “they’re so often in and out of the car picking up fares”…Like they ever get off their arses.

    Reply
  • rsgoto11

    Growing up we always had seatbelts in our cars. My father was an engineer and understood the value of wearing them. I also remember when the law on wearing them started and some idiots had t-shirts that looked like you had a seatbelt on.

    Reply
  • DrewbieWanKenobie

    Probably for the first 10 years or so of my driving career I often didn’t wear a seatbelt despite laws, my rationale was always I’m just risking my own life not anybody else’s and I value my comfort enough to risk the downsides. I know it’s a dumb reasoning but I was young and dumb, whatever.

    However I kept on that way for a long time, had many arguments over it, it wasn’t until someone pointed out something I had just never considered before, which seemed super obvious once someone actually made the argument to me, that wearing your seatbelt gives you a much greater chance to retain control of your vehicle in an incident which means wearing a seatbelt doesn’t just affect your life but also everyone else on the roads around you.

    Like I said it seems obvious but I just had never considered it. Ever since that argument was made to me I’ve always buckled up. And yes looking back even if it WAS only my life at risk it’s still dumb to have been taking that risk.

    Reply
  • Barbossal

    So – one thing I was thinking the other day, why did Speed Limiters never take off? If Speed Limits are to be enforced, why not simply cap the max speed on vehicles within a particular band (ie a speed limit of 110 km would have a cap of 130 km)? I think Freight vehicles have this in place.

    Reply
  • kl0

    I’ve never understood the support of seatbelt laws – especially in a nation where we don’t trust police for a second. I can understand mandating that anyone under 18 be belted in. I can even understand everyone in the vehicle having to be buckled in if just one passenger is a minor – given the possibility of bodies in the car colliding in the event of an accident.

    But outside of that, I’ll never understand why people support seatbelts from a legal / ticketing POV.

    Obviously they work. Obviously they save lives. Obviously you should wear them.

    But there are just sooo many identical facets in life where that’s also the case. So if people want to roll the dice while not harming anyone else, then what the fuck do I care?

    Maybe we should really consider NOT trying to save stupid people from themselves 🤷🏼‍♀️

    Reply
  • plantmic

    I had no idea it was so late. I remember as a kid in the 80s there were tonnes of campaigns about it – “Clunk, Click, Every Trip!”

    Makes more sense how my Dad used to hate it too.

    Reply
  • dinoroo

    I can’t even imagine implementing in present day America. Would result in half the country having a temper tantrum and right wing politicians basing their campaigns around it and by the looks of last week’s election, losing.

    Reply
  • dresn231

    For safety features like seatbelts and airbags in the car industry especially when it came in the US you just had to force it down people’s throats. They did that in the US people threw huge tantrums, but eventually they all came to accept seatbelts and people wore them.

    Reply
  • LincolnHamishe

    Some lady ran a red light and t-boned my car. Upon speaking to the police officer one of the first things he asked me was if I was wearing a seat belt. I indeed was and even though it was a side impact I imagine I was better off with it on.

    Reply
  • ContractingUniverse

    Jimmy Saville was hired to be the face of seatbelt safety in Britain.

    “Clunk, click, every trip”, he’d say grinning like a freak into the camera.

    Reply
  • 0x0BAD_ash

    I got into an accident and wasn’t wearing my seatbelt. Face went strait into the windshield and left an imprint, Was fine tho.

    Reply
  • _mister_pink_

    To be fair those seat belts aren’t going to do a great deal when the seats stop just below the shoulders and have no head rests.

    I imagine any sudden stop would just instantly snap your neck.

    Reply

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