[Jim-Bob]

Originally Posted by Varn

I don't think that seat belts were required before 1962. Come on test it!

The first seat belt installation in the US was in 1954 by Nash. it was designed to support a sleeping passenger though and not for safety. That would come to be in 1955 (if memory serves) and was done by Ford. However, the cars didn't sell well, so Ford only offered it for one year. The modern 3 point safety belt was designed by Volvo around 1957 or 59 ( doing this from memory so I may be off by a year!) and first installed on their cars around that time. US law did not require 3 point seat belts to be installed as mandatory equipment until 1968. None of those systems were of the modern inertia-reel style and instead required you to tension each piece individually! They were not even connected in a single buckle and you had to snap the two halves together. That didn't change until the early to mid 1970's, around the time of the first cars that had optional airbags. It was an expensive option at the time and first offered by GM. Not many sold and it was withdrawn from the market by 1977. Mercedes Benz was the first to install an airbag as standard equipment in the W126. I want to say it was in 1982 or 83 but am not 100% certain. I know they also offered them as an option in later incarnations of the W123 but am not sure about the year ( the W123 was replaced in 1985). As for ABS, I believe it was Chrysler that first offered it in the US around 1971 or 72. Less than 200 people opted for the Kelsey-Hayes designed system and so it did not last long on the market.