Comments on: Kiddie Car-Belt

By: JMyint

JMyint — Mon, 12 Jan 2009 01:40:01 +0000

Automobiles are the number one cause of death for children under 16. Just google “child killed in automobile accident” and you would be suprised how many unrestrained or improperly restrained children die each day.

By: MrG

MrG — Sun, 11 Jan 2009 23:55:29 +0000

Many years ago there was a story in the local paper of an auto accident involving a couple and
a baby. The father was driving, the mother was holding the baby in her arms instead of a car seat.
The adults were unharmed. The baby was killed.

By: Erica

Erica — Sun, 11 Jan 2009 21:12:15 +0000

@Sean — there’s a difference between having a kid unsecured in a field where there are no cars around, and that same setup on a busy suburban or city street. Using “I drove a truck with no seatbelt when I was 5″ to conclude “people who buckle in children are overprotective” is a bad leap of logic to make

By: Sean

Sean — Thu, 08 Jan 2009 13:11:58 +0000

I grew up on a farm and started driving the truck in the fields when I was 5 or 6. I would drive along while my Dad threw grain, hay, manure, etc out of the back. Certainly couldn’t have buckled in or I couldn’t have reached the steering wheel. It sure would be great to make the people who think children have to be wraped in cotton come out to a family farm for a weekend. Their popping heads would make great fertilizer.

By: Mike

Mike — Thu, 08 Jan 2009 00:36:11 +0000

Seatbelts?

When we were kids we wanted to be in the way back of the station wagon, and dad would let me sit in his lap and “let me drive” when I was young.

Now, I think they send you to re-education camp for that.

By: Scott

Scott — Wed, 07 Jan 2009 23:41:49 +0000

Yeah, over the holidays I visited my folks, who have a framed photo of my brother in a hook-over-the-car-seat, tubular metal “baby car seat” circa 1960. I pointed it out to my son and said, “Hey, there’s Uncle Zack in his Baby Slicer 2000.” We both got a laugh.

By: slim

slim — Wed, 07 Jan 2009 22:46:47 +0000

I have a picture of my youngest son sitting in a flimsy car seat that hooked over the seat of our ‘69 falcon wagon. It gives me the creeps now, but that’s what was normal then. My granddaughter gets strapped in like an F-15 pilot.

By: Al Bear

Al Bear — Wed, 07 Jan 2009 21:42:59 +0000

It looks very safe!

By: LightningRose

LightningRose — Wed, 07 Jan 2009 18:57:27 +0000

My dad installed this, or something just like it, for my twin sisters in the very early 60’s. At the same time he also retrofitted lap belts in our late 50’s station wagon years before belts were required in autos.

Today I use a harness and the existing shoulder belt to keep my dog strapped into the seat. Like the harness in the above article, it allows him to lay on the seat or sit up and watch the world go by.

By: Neil Russell

Neil Russell — Wed, 07 Jan 2009 16:47:48 +0000

My folks used to keep me in the back seat of our Rambler and not flying towards the windshield because of one of these things!
Thanks for bringing back the memory Charlie! And thanks to Mr Ostrander for inventing a practical car seat (or belt in this case), not like those plastic monstrosities of today