I was born in 1965, and from the time I was 3, it was just Mom and I in the car (and it seemed like we were always going somewhere in the car.) I wasn't necessarily pre-seat belt, but I was definitely pre- car seat. My first car wreck was sometime between 2 or 3 - Mom would know the exact year, I don't remember it much - but she had ran in to do an errand somewhere, and I knocked her Nash Rambler out of neutral, and managed to roll it down the hill. Then, of course, there was the time when I was 7 or 8, and Dad decided that I needed to learn to drive. He took me off to the fields in his Ford truck, where there wasn't anything to run into or hit or... well, except for the drainage canal. Guess who ended up in the drainage canal.
My air bag was always Mom's arm - she was faster than lightning with the Mom arm. But she didn't have to deploy it often - she was a great driver, and she tended to drive basic tanks that could get you through anything. My favorite was the Ford Mustang she had - I think it might have been a little older than me, but not by much, and it was just pretty. Straight black, sturdy and fast. Plus, it had a great radio... and that was the most important accessory to me. We got through some pretty rough times together just by singing our way down the highway.
At any rate... my point, if I had one, was just that I was struck by the change in how kids ride in cars just in my lifetime. I was always in the front seat - that's where Mom was, that's where I felt safe. I'm sure that the back seat thing is infinitely safer... I just am feeling nostalgia for the feeling of belonging that I always felt when it was just Mom and I, rolling down the highway together in the front seat.
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