Roll-a-Belt Seat Belt
date: label: date made
content: ca 1965
label: used date
content: 1960-Present
name: label: maker
content: Borg-Warner Corporation
notes: label: Description
content: Borg-Warner produced this “Roll-a-Belt” seat belt reel during the early 1960s. The “Roll-a-Belt” was an automatic seat belt retractor. When the belt is unbuckled, a spring exerts a three-pound pull and retracts the belt 16 inches. When seat belts were first introduced to vehicles drivers often found them unwieldy, leading to disuse. With the roll-a-belt, Borg-Warner wanted to make seat belts so easy to use that they actually got used.
label: Description
content: As more people began to drive and cars became faster, injury and fatality became a concern for the public and government. In the 1950s a driver could purchase and install a seat belt. The Government began the Buckle Up for Safe campaign to try to get people to use seatbelts, which, by then, had become standard features in automobiles. Still, legislation needed to be passed to enforce usage of the restraints.
label: Location
content: Currently not on view
setName: label: See more items in
content: Work and Industry: Transportation, Road
label: See more items in
content: America on the Move
label: See more items in
content: Transportation
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of American History
identifier: label: ID Number
content: 1984.0570.02
label: catalog number
content: 1984.0570.02
label: accession number
content: 1984.0570
objectType: label: Object Name
content: Seat Belt Reels
label: Other Terms
content: Seat Belt Reels; Road
physicalDescription: label: Measurements
content: overall: 8 1/2 in x 4 in x 1 in; 21.59 cm x 10.16 cm x 2.54 cm