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Old 07-15-2020, 06:18 PM   #1
all american boy
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Default '57 Ford Went Off the Road Killing Driver Highway 74 2 Days Ago

It happened near Rancho Mirage.


That is where Highway 74 comes down to more or less.


Turns into Monterey Ave I've been told.


Said he wasn't wearing a seatbelt.Probably because a '57 Ford never offered



seatbelts.


I did not post article because it has his name in it.


Anybody want to know who it was PM me.


He was 80 years old and seemed like he had done well in life.
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Old 07-15-2020, 07:22 PM   #2
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Default Re: '57 Ford Went Off the Road Killing Driver Highway 74 2 Days Ago

"I did not post article because it has his name in it."
????

Sal
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Old 07-15-2020, 07:35 PM   #3
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Default Re: '57 Ford Went Off the Road Killing Driver Highway 74 2 Days Ago

Here you go.


https://www.desertsun.com/story/news...74/5431487002/


Link is a little skittish.DON'T click on X in black box.Article will disappear.
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Old 07-15-2020, 08:08 PM   #4
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Default Re: '57 Ford Went Off the Road Killing Driver Highway 74 2 Days Ago

Why even post this at all?
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Old 07-15-2020, 09:15 PM   #5
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Default Re: '57 Ford Went Off the Road Killing Driver Highway 74 2 Days Ago

'Why even post this at all?'


One of the local Ford guys here passed away.



Thought he might of been a forum member.


Maybe somebody restored his car or sold him parts or something.


Just letting people know he passed away.
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Old 07-15-2020, 11:28 PM   #6
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Default Re: '57 Ford Went Off the Road Killing Driver Highway 74 2 Days Ago

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Ford offered seat belts starting in 1956.
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Old 07-15-2020, 11:29 PM   #7
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Default Re: '57 Ford Went Off the Road Killing Driver Highway 74 2 Days Ago

S.R.74 is known as the Palms to Pines Hwy. It goes from the desert floor to to Idyllwild in the San Jacinto Mountains. The last downhill stretches before the desert floor are steep and curvy. Could have lost his brakes or control or ? Regardless sad to hear.
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Old 07-16-2020, 02:19 PM   #8
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Default Re: '57 Ford Went Off the Road Killing Driver Highway 74 2 Days Ago

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Originally Posted by CrownVic55 View Post
Ford offered seat belts starting in 1956.
Yes as optional equipment. Hardly anyone ordered them. In 1973, I went thru a junkyard that had several rows of '56, 57, 58 fords almost a city block long. None of those cars had seat belts.
In my whole life I have only seen one '56 Ford that had the factory seat belts. It was in a different junkyard in the mid '70's.
The federal mandate did not take effect until 1964 (I think).
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Old 07-16-2020, 02:28 PM   #9
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Default Re: '57 Ford Went Off the Road Killing Driver Highway 74 2 Days Ago

Quote:
Originally Posted by all american boy View Post
'Why even post this at all?'


One of the local Ford guys here passed away.



Thought he might of been a forum member.


Maybe somebody restored his car or sold him parts or something.


Just letting people know he passed away.
Any way he was a Ford Lover and he died doing what he loved, Cruising in his '57 may he R.I.P.
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Old 07-16-2020, 03:33 PM   #10
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Default Re: '57 Ford Went Off the Road Killing Driver Highway 74 2 Days Ago

None of us are going to make it out alive. Any way that is quick is good but we take what we get.

Many folks install seat restraints of some type in there classic and antique cars but it isn't required by law in cars built before 1964 unless children of a certain size or age are passengers. Lap belts alone don't always help a lot in accidents and the old cars have less padding and different crumple zones than modern cars. Installing an upper body restraint isn't always practical in the older cars. We all take chances to some degree and we all know that things can happen. I usually wear a helmet when riding a motorcycle but I know full well that it likely won't help me at all in an impact from 35 MPH or higher forward speed.
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Old 07-17-2020, 09:08 PM   #11
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Default Re: '57 Ford Went Off the Road Killing Driver Highway 74 2 Days Ago

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Old 07-18-2020, 08:21 AM   #12
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Default Re: '57 Ford Went Off the Road Killing Driver Highway 74 2 Days Ago

I installed 3-point belts up front in my '59 and I have had to make a couple of hard stops. They worked like any new-car set of belts, kept me from moving forward.

It took a bit of doing, the bolts that came with the kit were too short to account for the B pillar garnish. I used a longer grade-8 bolt and made up a bushing to replicate the bolt shoulder that came with the kit.
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Old 07-19-2020, 10:16 AM   #13
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Default Re: '57 Ford Went Off the Road Killing Driver Highway 74 2 Days Ago

Can you imagine what it would be like to have a shoulder belt in a 1959 Ford with a retractable top. We use dual shoulder harness set ups in the aircraft but they can be a PITA to put on and they wouldn't look all that good in a convertible car with the top down. It might be OK for any other body type but a single belt would be more practical.
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Old 07-19-2020, 10:44 PM   #14
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Default Re: '57 Ford Went Off the Road Killing Driver Highway 74 2 Days Ago

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Originally Posted by rotorwrench View Post
Can you imagine what it would be like to have a shoulder belt in a 1959 Ford with a retractable top. We use dual shoulder harness set ups in the aircraft but they can be a PITA to put on and they wouldn't look all that good in a convertible car with the top down. It might be OK for any other body type but a single belt would be more practical.

There are a lot of late model vehicles that attach the shoulder belts to the seat back itself. So you don't need to attach to the B pillar unless you want to keep the original seats.
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Old 07-20-2020, 10:46 AM   #15
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Default Re: '57 Ford Went Off the Road Killing Driver Highway 74 2 Days Ago

Quote:
Originally Posted by rotorwrench View Post
Can you imagine what it would be like to have a shoulder belt in a 1959 Ford with a retractable top. We use dual shoulder harness set ups in the aircraft but they can be a PITA to put on and they wouldn't look all that good in a convertible car with the top down. It might be OK for any other body type but a single belt would be more practical.
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Originally Posted by 40 Deluxe View Post
There are a lot of late model vehicles that attach the shoulder belts to the seat back itself. So you don't need to attach to the B pillar unless you want to keep the original seats.
I saw some info a while back on an aftermarket seat-belt supplier's website when considering changing the lap belt setup in my red '55 to include shoulder belts, but baby t-birds have no real B pillars or roof structure.

If the (added) shoulder belts and/or their attaching points aren't appropriately higher than the tops of your shoulders, the belts can cause an increase in serious injuries due to spinal compression.

So, having an original low-back seat I pretty much gave up on that idea, except in the unlikely event I add roll bars to the car to have a place to attach the upper ends of the belts.
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Old 07-20-2020, 02:05 PM   #16
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Default Re: '57 Ford Went Off the Road Killing Driver Highway 74 2 Days Ago

In my former life when I had a job as a county public works director, part of my duties were to investigate and document fatalities on our roads. Almost every fatality was due to ejection of the driver and passengers due to not wearing a seat belt. Folks I am here to tell you even just a lap belt may save you and loved ones lives!! OP said this guy was not wearing a seat belt...............
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Old 07-22-2020, 11:19 PM   #17
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Default Re: '57 Ford Went Off the Road Killing Driver Highway 74 2 Days Ago

My first job out of High School was working for the guy that owned radio station KSTP in St. Paul/Minneapolis in 1955.
I worked at his lake shore home.
His son had a new ‘55 Ford station Wagon with seat belts.
It was my understanding that they came in the car. Factory ordered.
The outside lap belt was fastened to the back of the door in the door jam area just below the door lock mechanism. With the seat belts in use the doors could not be opened until the seat belts were unhooked.
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Old 07-23-2020, 08:37 AM   #18
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Default Re: '57 Ford Went Off the Road Killing Driver Highway 74 2 Days Ago

Quote:
Originally Posted by Aarongriffey View Post
My first job out of High School was working for the guy that owned radio station KSTP in St. Paul/Minneapolis in 1955.
I worked at his lake shore home.
His son had a new ‘55 Ford station Wagon with seat belts.
It was my understanding that they came in the car. Factory ordered.
The outside lap belt was fastened to the back of the door in the door jam area just below the door lock mechanism. With the seat belts in use the doors could not be opened until the seat belts were unhooked.
as they say the memory is one of the first to go.I should clarify what I meant was no such thing in 55 in later years there was a maker with something like that

Last edited by 54vicky; 07-26-2020 at 09:01 AM.
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Old 07-24-2020, 01:58 PM   #19
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Default Re: '57 Ford Went Off the Road Killing Driver Highway 74 2 Days Ago

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Originally Posted by JeffB2 View Post
Any way he was a Ford Lover and he died doing what he loved, Cruising in his '57 may he R.I.P.

I agree. It makes perfect sense to post an article in an old Ford forum about a fatal accident involving an old Ford. It's also a reminder to keep cars maintained and it's a reminder that, even with larger vehicles, the old stuff doesn't have the same level of safety that the new stuff does. Condolences to the deceased's loved ones.


It's my understanding that Ford tried to make vehicles safer in the 1950's by offering safety features, but the public at large wasn't much interested. Not enough to increase sales significantly, anyway.
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Old 07-24-2020, 03:47 PM   #20
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Default Re: '57 Ford Went Off the Road Killing Driver Highway 74 2 Days Ago

The big safety hike took place in '56. Fomoco offered seatbelts optionally, they installed safety door latches as standard equipment and claimed that the 3-spoke deep-dish steering wheel was "collapsible".
the '57/58/59 had all those features plus a backward opening hood which was touted as a safety feature.
Meanwhile, the windshield sun-visor which was optional on all '49-'55 Ford full-sized cars was discontinued in the '56 model year. Probably the best safety feature they ever had other than anti-glare mirrors.
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