I have gone back and forth on if I should post this or not, but here I am. Not going to name anyone or post any pictures, but the driver is a 914 guy also and may or may not pipe in with more details.

This weekend a friend of mine got to watch his son get ejected from the classic car he was driving. The car was a 50's era car that had no seat belts. Never had them and isn't required to have them registered as an antique. He was hit by an in-attentive driver behind him on a residential road.

His son, somewhat miraculously, was fine except for a bit of road rash on his arm and lower back. My friend had done just about everything right. Had been restoring the car since August. This was its first trip. It was all on back roads - no highways or faster speeds. He left early and was driving in broad daylight while alert. He was struck only 15 minutes from the show he was going to. Damage to the car was minimal - it was still drivable and the majority of the damage was fixed at the show over the weekend. But the hit caused the car to spin (think a Pitt Maneuver) and his kid got ejected.

The guy that hit him was not watching the road - he was turned around and yelling at his kids while driving. Instead of chilling at the show, my bud and his kid got several hours of EMTs, an ambulance, and police reports as well as the usual call to insurance after a literal fender bender.

Our 914 all have belts stock. But many of us have other cars that may not. Find a set of belts and install them. Even if you drive gently, you have no control over the distracted driver in a heavier faster car that is headed your way. This particular story ended well, but I know I give my kids rides in my car - and I can't help think about what I would have done if it was my Theo or Josh getting thrown from the car.

According to NHTSA, 77% of the people that get thrown from a car during a wreck do not survive their injuries. Obviously the extreme caution my friend used in choosing a route that would keep speeds down at the expense of a much longer drive likely saved his sons life. He's adding seatbelts to the car.

PSA over. Stay safe out there!

Zach

Yikes.

Thanks for posting.

Thank God your friend and his son are OK. Talk about your worst nightmare, seeing your son ejected from your car.

I have the stock belts in my '71 and on my list is to send them out this winter to have them rebuilt.

I really wanted to put in lap and shoulder belts with the large buckles, with the shoulder bar behind the seats toward the top, but can't bring myself to add that to the interior as it appears mostly stock.

But we always wear the belts in the car.

A company I worked for had a few safety posters in the hallways. One showed the outline of a 3-point seatbelt un-buckled. The caption read:

You may only need your seatbelt once. But which once?

I always wear a seatbelt.

I can't imagine not wearing a seatbelt.

The Jay Leno GT video made me cringe.

I'm glad everyone survived and there were only minor injuries, but I have to ask. What car gets hit hard enough to be spun, eject a passenger from car, and have only minor damage. A Sherman tank?

+1 on wearing seat belts. I'm a big fan.

If it was one of my children, the other guy would not survive *his* injuries.

I think leno had some belts on just not the straps around the umm midriff.

Thats kind of my point. It does not take much of a spin to throw you out of a car if you are not buckled in. If the hit had been square to the back he would have gone into the windshield.

Zach

Just like the need to wear a bike helmet. It doesn’t take much to cause injury.

That is one of the reason I did not mess with the stock seat belts. I just went with seatbelt planet and was done with it.

Unless the car car only goes between the garage and the trailer. Get new belts or have them rebuilt.

I suspect I need to replace the fabric portion of my original belts. Thanks for posting, Zach.

Same goes for harnesses, face in the dash isn’t too fun either…

https://youtu.be/5oO226PgSkg

Puts a harness in the car and then doesn't use it. After driving a lot of cars at the shop, I realized I never want a 5 point harness for the street. It's a pain to use (though not as much pain as hitting the dash with your face) and my understanding, it's really only for a car with a roll bar.

And make sure your seatbelt retractors work. Anything from the 80's or older seem to have 'iffy' seatbelts...

As a child growing up in the 60s and 70s, my father was adamant about us wearing seat belts. During those times there was no mandatory seat belt laws, and most adults didn't wear them. He was so adamant about seat belt usage he put them in all of his antique cars, including the 1927 Chevy touring car, and the 1931 Chevy sedan he owned.

As an adult, I am glad he did that. The habit of hooking the seat belt is so ingrained in me that I hook it even when backing the car out of the garage to wash it.

And that probably saved my life when I was hit in Betty's 914.

Use your seat belts. The life you save may be your own.


Clay

110%

In Ontario (Canada) the fine is up to $1000 and 2 demerit points for not wearing your seatbelt. Good incentive, but saving your own ass should be the primary reason.


LOL, like Clay, I do the same thing moving cars around in the driveway. Wearing the seatbelt becomes sooo automatic... left hand is inserting the buckle while the right hand is inserting the key...

Like Zach said, put 'em in and use 'em.

Even more importantly than myself, I got it to be automatic for my kids.
I sometimes drive the high school kids at the boarding school where I work. Often they will not buckle up. Some of them are genuinely surprised when I tell them we can’t go until they do. Occasionally, one will have earbuds in and pretend they can’t hear me. We just sit until they realize I’m serious.

You can wear your seatbelt or you can walk. Your choice.

Also, make them shoulder harnesses if at all possible. If anyone says they aren’t cool, we’ll I cannot say what I wish for them. Life is short as it is. Thanks for posting this.

volvo invented and developed the inertia reel seat belt.

one of the most brilliant inventions for cars ever.

safe and superbly convenient allowing movement to reach ash trays and cigarette lighters or to lean forward and wipe condensation from the screen.

having invented it - they then said to all car companies - we make our patented idea - free. thats right. FREE. you can all use it for zero licensing fees.

what a company! what a country. though i stop short at endorsing ABBA as music to listen to.

the main problem you guys have is your constitution i believe? - which inhibits making wearing seatbelts compulsory? or the wearing of helmets on motorcycles?

i guess there is two ways to look at that.
the darwinian principle of genetic survival by the fittest.
or the provision by a benevolent society for the continued survival of a diminished species.

i live in a country where the law of the land ensures the mentally unfit continue to pass on their inherited traits by enforcing seatbelt wear and motorcycle helmets with heavy fines. they have been doing it here since i was a child. eventually i think we may pay for that!

I spent 30 years in law enforcement, with the last 5 years in command of the traffic unit, investigating fatal car accidents. I can't tell you the number of deaths that could have been prevented, had seatbelts been used by the deceased person(s). In fact I myself was saved from certain death by a seat belt in a helicopter crash. I swaear by them and wish everyone would wear one....always.

I finally just saw that video and understood this comment. Randy's out there flogging the car and Leno declares he "doesn't need this" i.e. the harness.

Its his show and he can do what he wants, but I'm surprised his insurance does not demand that he is strapped in.

Zach

My 356 came with an aftermarket shoulder belt set up that works well and gets used. A couple of long time 356rs from the PNW were involved in a bad accident in 2021 near Bend OR during an annual trip. Lap belts only. The injuries were much more severe than they would have been had better belts been in the cars. I'll be sending my 914 belts to get them refurbished this winter.

I had Jared modify the lap belt mounting points on my 67-912. OEM places them around your abdomen. We moved the mounts so it would cross over my hips (the current location on modern cars). The shoulder belt comes in low from the inside rear quarter. That makes it a collar bone crusher so I will do something to have it correctly placed. Unfortunately the B pillar on early cars is really thin and light. Later cars were reinforced for the shoulder belt to mount on the b pillar.

How is Betty's car anyway? I haven't seen any updates?

This may be a weird comment:

There were a few reasons that I targeted the 914 as the car to buy:
1. Pop up headlights
2. "Convertible" type top with a stock "roll bar"
3. Three point seat belts
4. Quirkiness

Two of the four are related to safety.

Just sharing.

Slowly being repaired. It is in the body shop and has been since the wreck. The old adage "There are three things in body shop work, right, fast and cheap, and you can only pick two of them." We chose right and cheap, so they have been pushing it to the side when the get insurance work. Hopefully it will be done soon. Last time I talked to them they were getting ready to paint the underside and the interior/trunks.

+1

Paul

Banting and Best in Canada discovered insulin, were unable to process enough to take care of all the diabetics and sold the patent to Eli Lilly for...

...one dollar!

Hopefully the seatbelt patent worked out better for the car population as many diabetic patients are currently rationing their expensive insulin today (100 years later).

Paul

And this means installing and using NEW seat belts! My blood boils when I see members selling vintage original seat belts with 50-year-old webbing. Sure, they'll say it is only for display purposes only, but if they are in the car there is the potential for them to be utilized on the road. Seat belts are the one item where the sake of originality goes out the window (no pun intended). Get rid of those old belts! I myself, have been guilty of purchasing old belts, until someone finally took the bone out of my head.

Ansbacher

I put new seatbelts into my car from seatbeltplanet. In Betty's car, I put in new belts for a 944. They are the superseded part number for a 914 belt. They fit and were brand new. I think that is part of the reason I am still breathing... new seat belts.

The minimum to do to your belts is to get them re-webbed. Seat belt planet will do it and you can have spiffy colored stripes or colored belts added to look cool as well.