got pulled over in my maverick...

When I get closer to being done with my new interior, I plan to update the belts to 3 point retractables.... there are pairs for about $60-$70 on eBay.

I mainly took my shoulder belts out to reduce the concussions I was getting from them... ... I would feel better about having better belts in there. I think the wife will be more confident riding shotgun, too. She was pretty scared of it when it was set up as a bracket car. Calming it down a bit now ... wanna' drive it a lot.

 

My Dad (RIP) was a Cop and Dad said: THOU SHALT ALWAYS WEAR THY SEATBELT...period. Seen too many busted heads and broken bodies I guess.
My shoulder straps went away, they never stayed tidy on those hooks.
I do wear the lap belt. But...to make a law wear em or be fined is all about the Benjamins or else there be a 10 and 2 law. And no phones, maps, reading the paper, eating salads, laptops, 2 gal coffee cups etc etc

 

Ticket

Take the ticket to a traffic ticket lawyer, pay $35 and two years form now it will come to court and the cop will be gone or will not show up and it will be dissmissed.

Texasjack

 

We have them all! Seat belt law mandates the use of shoulder harnesses even the crappy older styles that hook seperately to the lap belt. Taking them out won't neccessarily get you off the hook. If the officer knows his cars he will know you're cheating. I believe 64 was the first year all cars were required to be factory equiped with seat belts. 68 was the year they required shoulder harnesses. I know 67 GM cars that were built "shoulder harness ready" had a hole punched in the trim tag. No hole meant DO NOT install the shoulder belts as the structure was not reinforced to hold it.

We have a 2nd offense cell phone ban, they have to have a legitimate reason to stop you before they can ticket you for yapping on one. The rest, reading shaving eating etc fall under distracted driving.

 

So i guess eating a double extra large cheese pizza while balancing the massive box on your knees and one of those big barge's of Coke in one hand and shaving with the foam and the old straight razor at the same time while you are driving would be a no-no also. Damn strict they are.

 

reminds me of the old days going down back roads in my maverick steering with my knee,my hands were always busy

 

Got a CB in the truck (gotta have it for alot of customers-we do bulk hauling) as well as my Escort daily driver (although it usually stays squelched back to where I can't here anyone unless they're really close).
As far as cell phone use well... I use one all the time. With a headset. If the headset is dead I'll not use my phone as holding it up to your head is incredibly distracting. I didn't believe it was that big of a distraction until I got a headset. I do think texting while driving is just crazy.
Back to the seatbelt thing, if the cop saw the shoulder strap hanging, you may or may not be able to fight it. I would suggest that if you don't want to wear the shoulder straps, take them out. Yea we all know they came in all of these cars, but alot of cops probably aren't aware of that. My '75 F100 only has lap belts, my '77 F150 has the 3-point belts, so an early '70s vehicle could probably squeak by on lap belts to the average cop.

 

Considering that a lot of cops running around now were born after our cars ceased production, (there's a scary thought ... and they are armed! )... they are liable to have no idea what it even is, much less, if it even came with shoulder belts.

 

How true. Most of the piddly laws they don't mess with here like most of the distracted driving stuff and the garbage bag law, hate to say it but they just want the "big ticket" items!

 

Seat belts

When I bought my 72 Mav 4-dr last year I had to drive it about 40 miles to get home. Timing was terrible as I had to drive through rush hour traffic on I-80 in Omaha. The lap belt was too small to fit around my ample gut with the bench seat so I had it sitting in my lap unbuckled. At the first stop sign I found that one of the front drum brakes was metal-to-metal and the power steering was sloppy. By the time I got home I was a total wreck and had a huge cramp between my shoulder blades (no not my head). I realize that I have been spoiled by the safety and technology of new cars. I don't want to drive my 70 or 72 Maverick until I figure out how to rig a newer belt system. I have had several pickups where the reel/retractor is mounted to the floor with a slip type eye mounted to the upper part of the b-pillar....think that should be pretty simple to install.

 

I must say that i do use all the seatbelt parts (lap and shoulder) even with my big gut , i figure it is there so i might as well use it plus the cops here don't mess around and will nail you.

 

shoulder belt for big guy

you can buy seat belt material by the yard--sew in whats comfortable for ya

 

Or i could loose 80 pounds. My wife would be happy for sure.

 

That's illegal, unless you are licensed by the DOT to manufacture seat belts. That being said, I did once have a shoe repair guy sew a buckle on the material for me. I told him it was a cargo strap for a roof rack.

 

I had no seat belts in my car one time when I got pulled over. He started to tell me he was going to give me a ticket and maybe impound the car. I said something like, "The year of this car seat belts were optional in the state it was purchased. Per state law the car is grandfather in and I am not required to wear them."

He looked at me like he wanted to say BS - and then he let me go.

Glad I took all the belts out at the same time.