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WILL YOU PUT SEAT BELTS INTO YOUR A-C-D AUTOMOBILE?

  • valar2006
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  • cbs
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18 Aug 2005 13:17 #3559 by cbs
Think an abrupt front or frontal offset halt would be most likely scenario, and scene would be bad enough just realizing the scope of repairs without also worrying about the injuries you just incurred unnecessarily.

No doubt a Cord (or late Auburn?) closed body would be probably the safest. Removable belts & head restraints, column altered to allow collapse, fuel cell & system shutoff, airbag install front & side curtain, door beams & lock mods could all be made virtually invisible.

Somebody will do it, just a matter of who and when.

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  • Josh Malks
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11 Aug 2005 14:13 #3510 by Josh Malks
With all the talk pf "butchery" no-one appears to have noted that all the classic car clubs --- CCCA and ACD included --- consider seat belts to be "invisible" when cars are being judged. Safety modifications ARE permitted, including belts, directional signals and outside mirrors.

Today's shoulder harness belts grew out of the lap belts of the 1950s, which were in use for decades before the inarguably safer shoulder harnesses replaced them. But they are hardy worthless.

Not all accidents are rollovers, or potentially fatal. Belts can keep you from getting painfully banged up by all those hard surfaces on your interior.

I agree that seat belts in an open, aluminum- and wood-bodied Duesenberg that rolled over would probably have been worse than useless. But if you own and DRIVE a steel-bodied ACD sedan belts could be worthwhile additions.

Josh B. Malks
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  • Maurice Randall
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11 Aug 2005 12:36 #3509 by Maurice Randall
Replied by Maurice Randall on topic WILL YOU PUT SEAT BELTS INTO YOUR A-C-D AUTOMOBILE?
I think everyone who drives these cars tends to drive them very carefully.

How often do you see one of these cars...
... racing around a corner?
... or tailgating another car on the freeway?
... or speeding excessively?
... or darting in and out of traffic?
... or involved in a road rage incident?

I'll bet many of you are careful when you approach a lawnmower that is cutting grass close to the roadway.

You all tend to be much more aware of your surroundings. You tend to be a much more careful and responsible driver.

The chance of getting hurt in one of these cars is very slim due to your driving style and awareness of your surroundings.

You stand a much better chance of getting hurt in your everyday back and forth to work vehicle with its ABS brakes, air bags, seat and shoulder belts. Why? Because you don't drive the car in the same manner as you do your A-C-D car.

Another problem you'll have is many of you who think you need seat belts in these cars will have to install them yourselves. Many auto repair shops won't want to do this for you. Think what will happen when someone gets hurt or killed in one of these cars that has had seat belts installed. The installer would get investigated in the liability case.

Did you mount the belt to a secure location near the frame structure in a manner that is safe? Or did you just drill a hole through the old floorboard? How about the angle of the belt mounting? And why didn't you also install a proper shoulder belt?

Will the mounting be able to contain a 300 lb human being getting slammed against it violently?

Silly lawyers would bring up the fact that there were no proper crash tests performed. The installer will be in trouble. Anyone care to donate their car for a test?

My vote is to just keep using your common sense when you drive your A-C-D car and don't butcher up the interior.

-Maurice

== 2006 will be the "50th" AUBURN Reunion ==

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  • balinwire
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11 Aug 2005 01:00 #3508 by balinwire
Replied by balinwire on topic SEATBELT CONTROVERSY
On a modified car, sure, install safety belts, along with headrests, collapsible steering column, and energy absorbing bumpers or night vision. I thought the mandate of the club is the preservation of the marque.

The cars are only seventy years old, but they due the respect of management. They got along fine to get to this time.

I am so glad my car never was driven so I can see exactly what an honest representation of the way the car looked when it rolled off the showroom floor.

We go the extremes to see that they have such small things as a cigar lighter, air filter or jack is correct but we are able to ignore drilling into the chassis and maybe the frame, to large bolts to mount nylon belts that were never included originally.

I doubt I will ever own a Big D but then I never thought I would own a Cord. I am glad no one ever drilled belt mounts in the front and rear pans of my car.

I hope the ?D? (dream) that I would find would be exactly original, down to the paint and the oily fingerprints of the original owner.

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  • sunroofcord
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09 Aug 2005 22:31 #3505 by sunroofcord
Replied by sunroofcord on topic SEATBELT CONTROVERSY
Bill; I hope that you did not think I was trying to discourage people from installing seatbelts in there old cars. I Definitly WAS NOT. There is nothing wrong with installing seat belts. It is up to each individual owner whether they want to install them or not....To maybe clarify myself, I was trying to look at the Duesenberg situation objectively. When we hear about these unfortunate tragedies, the first thing we hear is whether the occupants were wearing seatbelts or not but we don't always hear about the other factors that contributed to the accident. Are we supposed to believe that in every situation, where the victims or survivors were not wearing seatbelts, they would have survived or there injuries would be less???? I think we need to hear all the factors of an accident and just not hear whether the victims or survivors were wearing seatbelts or not . Would the two survivors of the Duesenberg accident survived if they had been belted in. I do not know the answer to that question and probably the man above is the only one who does. There is nothing wrong with installing seatbelts in your car but it doesnt mean they will save your life in EVERY situation. I'm just trying to make the point that there are many other factors involved in an accident situation then just whether the occupants were wearing seatbelts or not......As far as trailers go, I would prefer seeing people drive there cars but after driving two to three hundred miles per day professionally for almost thirty years, I've seen alot of stupid stuff on the road. So, I understand why people choose to trailer there cars. I no longer drive on a professional basis for many reasons, the type of drivers we have today is one of them. Thanks for letting me voice my thoughts on this forum. JIM

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  • Bill Hummel
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09 Aug 2005 13:39 #3497 by Bill Hummel
Replied by Bill Hummel on topic Install or not to install.
I say install them.

Sure there may be one fluke time in each car owner's life when the seatbelts may not be helpful, but think about all of the other less catastrophic times when they are. They put seatblets in modern convertibles without rollbars. Why not our classics?

Our automobiles are still relatively young and we can still drive them. When the cars are 200 years old and probably don't run, then the owners can remove the belts and let them sit in museums.

The benefits of seatbelts far outweigh the disadvantages. You can always hide them for shows and for judging.

[i:2ztolvvg]Now if you guys don't DRIVE your cars and just trailer them, then it is not an issue is it?[/i:2ztolvvg]

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  • sunroofcord
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09 Aug 2005 03:13 #3496 by sunroofcord
Replied by sunroofcord on topic SEAT BELTS IN OLD CARS
Tom; Thanks for posting this. The Duesenberg Accident was a great tragedy and my great condolences to the family for there loss. Having been in an accident where I was told that if I'd had a seatbelt on, I'd be dead, it's always bothered me that when you hear about these unfortunate tragedies, the first thing the media or anyone else jumps to these days is whether the occupants were wearing seat belts or not. Yes, seatbelts Do Save Lives but in an instance such as were talking about here, would the seatbelts have saved them???? Maybe yes, Maybe no. I hadn't thought about the rollbar aspect before and just could not see where lap belts would have saved these people by keeping them strapped in a very heavy open car that was hit so hard that it rolled over three times. I've been trying to figure out the answer to that question ever since this tragedy happened. Personally, I do not believe in statistics, statistics can be made to say anything you want them to say but I would like to see a study done to know whether seatbelts would have saved these people in this instance or not. I personally don't think they would have. We'll probably never know the true answer.

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  • Tom_Parkinson
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08 Aug 2005 23:58 #3494 by Tom_Parkinson
Replied by Tom_Parkinson on topic WILL YOU PUT SEAT BELTS INTO YOUR A-C-D AUTOMOBILE?
I recall the controversy back in the old "seat Belt" days of the 60's---"Will seat belts in an open car with no roll bar kill more people than they save?"

To my thinking, the presence of a roll bar is of critical concern if adding seat belts to an open car. I know of two instances where ppl survived because they were not belted into an open car/no roll bar automobile. And we all know of instances where ppl died when thrown from an open car.

Does anyone have reliable, even if politically incorrect, statistics on this issue?

---Tom

With brakes, two cylinders are better than one.

Editor-in-Chief Emeritus, The Hardtop News Magazine, the Journal of the Michiana Dunes Region, Lambda Car Club International

See pix of 1509A here: mbcurl.me/YCSE

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  • acdclubadmin
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04 Aug 2005 14:43 #3466 by acdclubadmin
The recent tragedy of the Patton Family losing three members in a 1929 Duesenberg makes us revisit this question.


Bill Hummel - Webmaster - ACD Club

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