Child Safety

My youngest daughter grew up sleeping on the front seat of the A with her head on my lap. Live in the very very rural parts of MN, no traffic to speak of. In a real wreck seat belts aren't going to make much of a difference in an A, in my opinion.
 
An OOOOOOLD HABIT: On a HARD STOP, how many of you still reach out your RIGHT arm, to "hold" your PASSENGER? Old habits are just "DRILLED" into our heads!!!!----BUT, can you tell us what you had for BREAKFAST????---LOL----My Dog remembers, he always has the SAME OLD STUFF!!!---I just ordered a new bag, from CHEWY.COM----$42.00 for 12 Lbs, it SHOULD be GOOD!
Bill W.
 
The physical structure of a A is not as strong as a late model car, so from a protection standpoint you are at a disadvantage. I have belts in all four of my As, more to keep me inside in case of an accident. Now as to where you drive, I have been a volunteer fire and rescue person for near 50 years. I live in a rural area. We have many accidents and a fair amount of fatalities on local back road style driving. Often it is not the fault of the person hurt or killed but the fault of the idiot texting on their cell or doing something that takes their focus away from driving. And one other point in all these years of fire and rescue, I have never cut dead person out of a seat belt, they really do save lives. Off my soapbox...
 
I have a Town Sedan, and also take our granddaughters for rides in the back seat....not when they were in car seats, but older than that. I do have front and rear seatbelts.
Years ago, I had a coupe with a rumble seat, and routinely took kids for a ride there...with no seatbelts, including a 60 mile drive in our local mountains to see the snow. All survived and enjoy remembering it today!
 
On my soapbox again. Lap belts only in the front seats of a Model A in an accident will hinge your body at the waist. The driver will eat the steering wheel and the passenger's head will hit the dash or go through the windshield. If you are going through the trouble to install lap belts, why not install combo lap/shoulder belts instead. There are several threads on the forum on how to do this on a variety of models.

Glen
 
OH, the safety stuff that's evolved, sometimes in a simple mis-hap, bags deploy from the front & sides & the passengers are "lost" inside. Saw one, where the Ladies' FACE was imprinted in the WHITE Bag, from her MAKE-UP!!!
Bill Laffing
 
I live in semi rural Pennsylvania. Lots of 45mph two lane roads. I am just looking at what it would take for a child seat in the back. Has anyone ever hooked one up to a lap belt?
 
Two things:
The first I've mentioned before, children in a rumble seat do not weigh much. During a panic stop, the lid can close on them. I bought a coupe once when a man decided to sell it after the rumble seat closed on his daughter and she chipped a tooth.
Second: I was in an accident as a teenager in a Model A. I flew out the door and landed in the middle of the street. A lap belt would of helped.
 
I can still remember riding with my Dad standing up in his Tudor holding onto the dashrail with my nose against the glass, and again standing up leaning on the dash in his 50 Ford, my younger brother was on the back seat in a wicker clothes basket............
Paul in CT
 
A friend lost his mom in the 70's when their resto-rod T sedan was hit and she went through the roof on a low speed collision. I also see the post about the small speed accidents where death occurs in an A. Enough to frighten me! I added shoulder belts to my '29 truck but still don't let my boys ride on our crazy local highways.

This might help you: On my '55 2dr wagon I found 4 point harnesses for the back seat and my boys have worn them for years. Easy to install and can be ordered in a vintage chrome flip buckle several colors and not covered in race car lettering. Keeping strapped in and from fighting with each other was another plus!

https://www.wescoperformance.com/4-pt-seatbelt-lift-help.html
 

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There are a lot of stories in the Model A world of a minor rear-ender popping a door open. The driver or passenger falls out and gets run over by their own car. I don't think you'll ever get a child seat to modern impact specs, but the basic idea of keeping everyone inside the cage is effort well spent.
 
My brother owned a 1930 coupe in high school, in 1967. He installed seat belts in his car because his girl friend's dad who was a fireman would not allow his daughter to ride in a car without seat belts. They married a few years later and have been married for 46 years.
 
Neil Mylar's point above about the rumble lid closing on the occupants even during a fast stop incident is true and precautions should be taken to prevent it when kids are riding in the back. I use a short ratchet strap with rubber coated hooks on each end. One end attaches to the rumble lid handle and the other to the frame under the car. When tightened up, the lid cannot slam shut on the kids.

Glen
 
I use long hasp locks on both rumble hinges and pool noodles around the front and both sides of the rails to protect occupants in the rumble seat of my Cabriolet.


Bill Lee/Virginia Peninsula
 
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