Scott wrote:
Well, seat belts were not required to be standard equipment in the US until 1968, and the first state to actually require their use was New York the end of 1984, so the lack of a law doesn't necessarily mean it was safe, but I agree it does imply a lack of concern.
However, the 1968 seat belt mandate included a mandate for seat back locks in two doors. A 1987 crash safety study (ref. DOT HS 807 067) was published comparing two door to equivalent four door models, specifically focusing on the seat back latch as a factor in injury/fatality statistics.
The findings were that in even moderate head-on collisions ~26mph with unrestrained adult rear seat passengers, the seat back latches in two doors were inadequate and in most cases would tear loose from the seat frame, so did not provide the perceived safety. Unrestrained adult rear seat passengers often ended up in the front at even lower speed impacts.
There appeared to be a benefit when the rear seat passengers were children who with their reduced mass were more likely to be contained within the rear compartment and not hurled into the windshield, or with adults in low speed frontal impacts ~10mph.
A totally separate question but still related to seat backs, how does one remove the seat back cushions? Does one remove the bottom to reveal fasteners below the back cushions? This car still has the plastic seat covers on just the front backs and they are a bit ratty with the corners and some seams split out, so was wondering what it took to remove those covers.
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