I've worn a seatbelt every chance I got since April, 1981. It was a big decision for a first-grader! That being said, I also remember bouncing all over the place in cars before then, with NO seatbelt on... and bouncing all over the place in vans after that, some that didn't even have rear seats... going on field trips and sitting 2 in a front seat... riding in the cargo area in my grampa's chevette... why am I still alive?!? Vanagon content: I recently got a pair of syncros for a good price... one is for parts, but I liked the other one well enough (despite some body damage) to give up the air-conditioned, leather-equipped, powerful Audi A6 I'd been using to haul the kids around, in favor of this non-A/C, smelly, dented, might-as-well-have-a-hamster-wheel van. I thought the westy was a good family hauler- but it's got nothing on a 7-passenger van! It's easier to get the kids in and out, it's easier to clean up chicken nugget droppings, they absolutely love it in there... what could be better? Back to the seatbelts- It's very very easy to retrofit them. The dealership here even has them for a reasonable price, and they come with ALL parts needed, except bolts. And of course they look nice 'n OEM. I've put the RR belt into the westy so far, and next the new van will get both rears, and left center shoulder belts. If anyone in/near Denver wants a hand putting theirs in, pmail me. It's a worthwhile upgrade.

-Simon

On Jun 3, 2004, at 7:12 AM, David Brodbeck wrote:

> On Wed, 2 Jun 2004, Aristotle Sagan wrote: > >> Nope, no way. The kids like the 84 van but ya know, no shoulder >> belts, no >> rides. As soon as the kids were out of baby seats, the van became a >> extra. > > It's amazing how times change. > > When I was a kid, *none* of the vehicles I rode in ever had rear safety > belts. (They didn't appear in most American cars until well into the > 90s, > and then only for the outboard seats.) When I was really young, I > remember sharing the middle seatbelt in an old Ford pickup with my > sister. > That truck didn't even have a padded dashboard. In fact, I got the > impression we were a bit unusual as a family for even wearing > seatbelts at > all.