40 years ago: Fines for not wearing seatbelts introduced
Because the seatbelt rate stagnated at 60 percent after the seatbelt requirement was introduced in 1976, a penalty for driving without a seatbelt was introduced
Volvo was one of the pioneers of seat belts and offered them as standard equipment as early as the end of the 1950s. The picture shows a three-point seat belt in a Volvo Experimental Safety Car from 1972.
(Image: Volvo)
It's a cultural question: how much of a precautionary role can the state play in the lives of its citizens? This question arises anew with every system that is designed to make driving safer, such as the speed assistance system. Today, such systems are mandatory throughout the European Union. 40 years ago, it was still regulated nationally: Back then, the German government felt obliged to act and imposed a fine for not wearing a seatbelt on August 1, 1984.
(Image: BMW)
Today, cars indicate as a matter of course when someone is driving without a seatbelt. The obligation to install this reminder function became mandatory throughout the EU in 2014, and no protests were heard. A few decades ago, however, wearing a seatbelt alone was at least as emotionally controversial as the state subsidization of heat pumps is today.
"Private car sector"
State interference in the private sphere of the car was new at the time, and many people tried to defend themselves against it. This initially led legislators to compromise and introduce compulsory seatbelts in 1976, but not to penalize non-compliance. And then, of course, there were fears - such as not being able to get out of a burning vehicle. In 1975, the Spiegel Magazine picked up on the emotional situation when it decided to make seat belts compulsory the following year. Its (not entirely orthographically correct) title: "Tied to the car. Seat belts compulsory from January". The story begins with the sentences:
"The interviewers had never experienced anything like it. Their interviewees 'reacted allergically', 'attacked the interviewers'. They refused to answer because 'the questions were too stupid' and revealed, all in all, 'an abundance of disturbances' in their emotional lives. It was, as the reporters from the Cologne 'DelBerg' Institute summed it up, 'comparable to a sting in the wasp's nest': a survey among German citizens whether they wear seat belts in their cars."
Three-point seat belts since 1959
Resisters decided to simply continue driving cars built without seat belts until 1978 (thanks to a transitional period of two years generously granted to the car industry), much like the heat pump sceptics who still buy oil heating today. However, the Volvo PV 544, popularly nicknamed the "humpback Volvo", had already been around for 17 years with three-point seat belts as standard. It had already helped to cement Volvo's reputation as a "safe" brand.
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A change in attitude was hoped for with campaigns such as "Safer than luck: click - first buckle up, then start" (1974/75) or "Experts wear seat belts", accident examples in the popular series "Der 7. Sinn" or the television program "Mit Gurt und ohne Fahne" with star showmaster Frank Elstner. The Süddeutsche Zeitung argued that "the restriction of personal freedom by wearing a seatbelt" was reasonable for drivers "because they are sharing the costs of operations and nursing care with the public of health and accident insurance members". Die Zeit, on the other hand, feared at the time that further restrictions would be imposed on citizens in contradiction to the free constitutional order.
From 60 to 90 in one year
These discussions partly explained the long period of stagnating seatbelt use rates, which led to an initial fine of 40 marks. In fact, the rate rose from 60 to over 90 percent within a year, and even from 47 to 91 percent in urban areas. The number of fatalities in road accidents fell from more than 10,000 to 8,400 between 1984/85. In the GDR, seat belts became compulsory as early as 1980 and the People's Police punished non-use from day one. It was also advertised; older people may remember the signs saying "Buckle up, save lives". However, car traffic in the GDR was low compared to that in West Germany, the motorcycle rate was significantly higher and therefore the accident figures were hardly comparable.
According to traffic historian Frank Steinbeck, there were around 23,000 road deaths in the FRG and GDR combined in 1970. According to the Federal Statistical Office, there were fewer than 3,000 in Germany in 2023. The seatbelt use rate in 2023 was more than 98 percent. The seatbelt is still the most important component of passive safety today, and the obligation to wear a seatbelt has become firmly anchored in people's minds. In any case, it has not been questioned or even attacked for a long time.
(fpi)