car safety

I don't know where you heard that: McQueen was driving a Mustang, the bad guys a Charger. Most of the Mustang driving was done by Bud Ekins, a stunt man and long-time friend of McQueen's (he also did the motorcycle jump into the barbed wire in The Great Escape). Had things happened in the way you described, McQueen would probably have walked from the project until he got his own way.

IIRC, federal law mandated all cars be equipped with seat belts circa '67 or '68. Before that time they were optional equipment. You're correct in that that socially, seat belt use was not common place - certainly not like today. I think the big push came around 1988 in our state. I'm personally thankful for it - seat belts saved my life just a few years after it became state law.

Back in the late 60s - early 70s when I was a kid day my parents did not buckle up, nor did they require us to use them. Wouldn't have worked out - there were 8 of us in that big honkin Ford LTD station wagon (looked like the car Briggs blew up in) and it probably only had six belts.

And child seats? Yeah right. I was the youngest and sat upfront between my Mom and Dad whenever we loaded up the crew. If I had a dime for every time I got the "mommy hand" to the chest to keep me in my seat I'd be a rich man.

A different era I have to tell ya.

"Point Blank" is an excellent psychological thriller with a killer chase scene. Seatbelts were decidedly unsexy in movies. Of course, Harry Callahan didn't lock the door to his apartment either. Bad manners not to trust your neighbor!

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Hey...the bad guys in Bullit put on their seatbelts!
That chase was stupid, because once Bullitt flew off the side of the road, that Charger would be long gone.

The only reason the Charger lost is because Steve McQueen can't lose, and it was using useless stock tires. If it had proper wider tires there would have been no way a Mustang would force it off the road!

But back on topic. Yes, it just shows the difference between the 70's and now.
Look at lawn darts, look how stupid those things were, I'm surprised more people weren't killed by those things.

California used to have seat belt exemption for cops and taxi drivers, ostensibly to allow them a quick escape. Don't know if that exemption still holds.