Charlotte on why she doesn’t buckle-up in her MGA
The seatbelt. It takes no more than a few seconds to put one on and it could save your life. It’s a simple act of self-preservation. As a child born five years after the law requiring all drivers to wear their seatbelts came into force in 1983, I grew up governed by parents who insisted I wear one too. I had no choice, so it became a habit that was performed absent-mindedly, a habit I never intended to break. Until I drove a classic car.
Built five years before the legislation was passed that required car manufacturers to install seatbelts as standard, my 1960 roadster came without and at first, I considered this a novelty. I didn’t need to buckle up and was under no legal obligation to do so; the very antithesis to a ‘Think!’ road safety campaign. I felt rebellious and inexplicably invincible; what a fool.
Dangerous dilemma
In 2020, with my MGA destined for the roads of southeast Asia and mainland China, dad and I secured seatbelts to bolts in the floor that had been put there to mount harnesses when the car had been rallied back in 1991. We decided to err on the side of bureaucratic caution and, although the pandemic meant our trip was ill-fated, we’ve not had to, nor wanted, to use them. In a crash, there are many variables that can compromise their life-saving effects – the MGA has no headrests and the seats have little structural integrity – but still, it’s a predicament that weighs heavily on my mind.
To gauge public opinion, I posted a poll on social media and more than 60 per cent of respondents said they had fitted and used seatbelts in their classic or vintage car. The reasons, both for and against, were logical, but also harrowing. ‘My best friend Adge [Andy Gardner] would probably have survived if he’d been wearing his belt,’ said Peter John Williams. In 1982, while driving home in his mum’s Datsun 120Y, Andy clipped a curb and hit a telegraph pole. The impact propelled him through the windscreen and his injuries proved fatal. He was 24 years old. ‘For the last 40 years, if a car can be fitted with seatbelts properly, I fit them and always wear them,’ concluded Peter.
Charlotte Vowden is a mechanic’s daughter who had spent fifteen years as a newspa
