# How far we have come **URL:** \ **Category:** General Discussion\ **Created:** [July 17, 2025, 1:34pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/how-far-we-have-come/201056 "2025-07-17T13:34:38Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![VDCdriver](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/vdcdriver/32/48514_2.png) [@VDCdriver](https://community.cartalk.com/u/VDCdriver)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2025, 6:02pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/how-far-we-have-come/201056/41 "2025-07-20T18:02:03Z")
> [@texases](#): > > Funniest thing I’ve read in a long time, thanks. Let’s not forget that he was the one who claimed that one would be in imminent danger of arrest during the Pandemic if one dared to leave his/her home. Meanwhile, I was visiting stores and other places–albeit with proper protection–and I was never stopped, detained, or even questioned by the gendarmes. ---
**Author:** ![dhallis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b9e5f3/32.png) [@dhallis](https://community.cartalk.com/u/dhallis)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2025, 2:00am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/how-far-we-have-come/201056/44 "2025-07-21T02:00:03Z")
1974 Cadillac Coup Deville. The biggest land barge I ever drove. Stepping on the brake hard to stop suddenly was done with much caution and with much pumping action… the rear end would lose grip and the monster would fishtail its entire length over a 2 lane road. It took forever to stop. ---
**Author:** ![TwinTurbo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/8baadc/32.png) [@TwinTurbo](https://community.cartalk.com/u/TwinTurbo)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2025, 1:51pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/how-far-we-have-come/201056/45 "2025-07-21T13:51:30Z")
The march of technological invention and innovation is relentless. We don’t have more safety features in cars today because people are afraid of injury, we have them because they became available- technologically and financially feasible to include. If anything, their inclusion has led people to take more risks, thinking the technology will save them from harm… ---
**Author:** ![bing](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/bing/32/4619_2.png) [@bing](https://community.cartalk.com/u/bing)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2025, 5:58pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/how-far-we-have-come/201056/46 "2025-07-21T17:58:58Z")
Of course about 1956 when ford came out with their recessed steering wheel, padded, dash, and seat belts, it was selling safety, not due to technology advances. Quite a few people thought selling safety was a mistake because customers would think cars were unsafe. It’s kind of a classic marketing case study. I just liked the looks of the steering wheel and the smell of the car. ---
**Author:** ![VDCdriver](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/vdcdriver/32/48514_2.png) [@VDCdriver](https://community.cartalk.com/u/VDCdriver)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2025, 7:25pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/how-far-we-have-come/201056/47 "2025-07-21T19:25:13Z")
> [@bing](#): > > Of course about 1956 when ford came out with their recessed steering wheel, padded, dash, and seat belts, it was selling safety, not due to technology advances. Quite a few people thought selling safety was a mistake because customers would think cars were unsafe +1 I remember reading an interview (in Popular Science, or Popular Mechanics) with Buick’s Chief Engineer, shortly after Ford’s failed experiment with optional seatbelts. He told the magazine folks that seatbelts were not necessary, and that when he was driving with his grandson, if he “thought that they would be in a collision” ![:confused:](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/original/3X/2/f/2fa46d873242438f338c162a571192886523d8c6.gif), he would shout _BRACE!_, and the kid was trained to extend his arms and place his hands on the dashboard. Was this GM guy merely mouthing GM’s anti-seatbelt position, or was that **Chief Engineer** ignorant of the huge inertial forces that take place in a collision? ---
**Author:** ![bing](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/bing/32/4619_2.png) [@bing](https://community.cartalk.com/u/bing)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2025, 7:55pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/how-far-we-have-come/201056/48 "2025-07-21T19:55:42Z")
My tow truck driver was hauling my car home 40 miles and I mentioned to him that he didn’t have his seat belt on. I don’t recall if the rig was a ford or Chev, but he said if we were going to crash he’d be laying diwn flat on the seat to avoid being speared by the steering shaft. I just kept my belt on. He was a good driver. Later he got out if the business saying it was too dangerous and became a bail bondsman. Too bad. $100 for a 50 mile tow day or night was a bargain. Geez I never thought to tip him. ---
**Author:** ![VDCdriver](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/vdcdriver/32/48514_2.png) [@VDCdriver](https://community.cartalk.com/u/VDCdriver)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2025, 7:59pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/how-far-we-have-come/201056/49 "2025-07-21T19:59:21Z")
> [@bing](#): > > he said if we were going to crash he’d be laying diwn flat on the seat to avoid being speared by the steering shaft. Similarly, the Tucker automobile–which touted its safety features (padded dash, pop-out windshield, + some other things)–advertised that the space underneath the dash on the passenger side was big enough for the passenger to take refuge if they were about to be in accident. Somehow, I think that most collisions take place too quickly for most people to react in that way, but… ---
**Author:** ![bing](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/bing/32/4619_2.png) [@bing](https://community.cartalk.com/u/bing)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2025, 8:09pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/how-far-we-have-come/201056/50 "2025-07-21T20:09:17Z")
Like a pilot during impending doom, you spend the last 30 seconds trying to do everything you can to avoid the crash, not laying on the floor. Wife just screams. Never hit a car or tree, just deer. ---
**Author:** ![Purebred](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/purebred/32/46796_2.png) [@Purebred](https://community.cartalk.com/u/Purebred)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2025, 9:23pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/how-far-we-have-come/201056/51 "2025-07-21T21:23:10Z")
Tom McCahill called that “diving for the cellar”. His recommendation for surviving a crash. ![IMG_2963](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/original/3X/a/9/a9124c57c0c708587f2a6da4687f4548dca996a9.jpeg) Oops didn’t realize photo included a skimpy bathing suit! ---
**Author:** ![bing](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/bing/32/4619_2.png) [@bing](https://community.cartalk.com/u/bing)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2025, 9:40pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/how-far-we-have-come/201056/52 "2025-07-21T21:40:29Z")
That’s a party dress not a bathing suit. ---
**Author:** ![VDCdriver](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/vdcdriver/32/48514_2.png) [@VDCdriver](https://community.cartalk.com/u/VDCdriver)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2025, 10:22pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/how-far-we-have-come/201056/53 "2025-07-21T22:22:25Z")
A couple of months ago, I posted a car pic that included a woman in a similar suit. Someone flagged it, and it was removed because it was so “objectionable”. Go figure. ---
**Author:** ![Purebred](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/purebred/32/46796_2.png) [@Purebred](https://community.cartalk.com/u/Purebred)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2025, 10:39pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/how-far-we-have-come/201056/54 "2025-07-21T22:39:50Z")
That was my thought, also why I called it skimpy. [Previous page](https://community.cartalk.com/t/how-far-we-have-come/201056.md?page=2)