There’s something to be said for seatbelts. We all went through a phase in our lives when putting on a seatbelt was like admitting you enjoyed Culture Club music in the 1980s. It was shameful and it struck at the depths of your bravery and manhood. The good news is that it was a stupid phase that most of the world has grown out of and it was a way larger problem back in 1975 when this film was made. “Safety Belts: A Smashing Success” was definitely aimed at younger drivers who were hitting the streets in cars and not putting a belt on.
Today’s cars make it annoying to not have your seatbelt on but the reality is, we should not really need a reminder that it’s a bad idea to have your body free-floating in the case of an accident, right? Sure, the 1950s F1 drivers who preferred to be thrown from their cars were cool and all, but those guys died at such a fantastic clip, some people never even bothered to learn their names.
The best part of this video is Mark Donohue’s cameo at the end. This was made very shortly before he was killed at an F1 race because of a traumatic head injury. The belts protected his body but the reckless nature of F1 racing at the time allowed him to be struck in the head for needless reasons.
The shots of the highways are cool as well because of all the awesome cars cruising down them!
