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Cars have always had seatbelts as far as I am concerned, at least in the front of the car anyway. In Europe it became compulsory for all new cars to be fitted with front seatbelts in 1965, but it wasn’t until 1986 in the UK that rear seatbelts also became compulsory in all new cars sold.
However, just because it became compulsory to have seatbelts in cars, it didn’t become law to wear a front seatbelt until 1983! Up until then most people probably still didn’t wear their belt, but when the fines started to come into action most people started to belt up, as it were. In 1989 it became law that all children travelling in the back of a car must wear a seatbelt (if fitted) and in 1991 this also applied to adults. These days it is considered normal to wear your seatbelt, and as the dramatic footage of crash test dummies flying through car windscreens shows, this is probably a very good thing!
Funny though how it takes the threat of a fine to get people to take action. Just being told isn’t enough, even when it’s UK icon Sir Jimmy Saville telling you! Back in the 1970’s (before he became “Sir”) he fronted the TV “Clunk Click Every Trip” adverts. The idea was you “clunk” your door shut, then “click” on your seatbelt. The adverts were memorable both for Mr. Saville’s delivery of the script, his hair, and also the footage of pretty scary looking car crash footage. Check out the video below where Jim smashes an egg in a metal box to get across his point, and for more fun seatbelt facts, follow this link to the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents page on seatbelt history.