[ARC5] Ever More OT: Seat Belts

[Robert Eleazer]

Y'all remember in the mid-70's when the idiots in Congress required cars to be fitted with seat belts and interlock circuits so that the engine would not start unless the belts were fastened?

My Mom bought a mid-70's Toyota Corona.  In the first place, the vehicle was nice looking but definitely proved to be one of poorer examples of Toyota's products.  But since the car had been a demonstrator the people at the dealership had apparently not wanted to have to constantly fool with the seatbelts to start the car and had modified it so that the car WOULD NOT start with the seatbelts fastened.  I think they just turned a connector around to accomplish that.

I guess maybe it was a nearly foolproof anti-theft device - if the crooks were smart enough to insist on wearing the belts.

Wayne