We did. Many thousands didn't. Six guys in my senior class died in the spring just before graduation, in 3 separate car crashes. While tragic, it was sort of a given. Meh, what can you do? That doesn't happen now, thankfully.
We had two very similar for our kids . Used to fill the floor space in the back seat area of our 34 Ford sedan with luggage etc to level with the squab . Both kids in those harnesses -- 300 mile road trip ! Also had a kids car seat that just clipped onto the rear seat back . Just sat there ! One time the seat back came loose and my son did a nosedive into the back of the front seat when I braked . No harm done but I fixed the seat back catch. As you say -- we survived but there must have been a bit of luck involved. I hate to think what would have happened if we had been involved in a serious accident. My hot-rodded 34 sedan was our only transport for 8 years -- I would work on it most weekends so my wife could drive it all week . Great times ! Now I own a Ranchero that I hardly ever need to work on -- even better times ! Denis.
Back when we were kids (less traffic on the roads), Dad let us sit in the back of the pickup, tailgate down, with a rope across for us to hang onto. Scary fun.
Oh, yeah, tailgate rides! We did those, and I used to ride in the back seat of the sedans we had, playing with my Hot Wheels and Matchbox cars, no seat belt, no thought of flying forward.
We never had a truck, but we did get to do the tailgate rides on the Torino wagons. And we'd like to sit with the gate up looking out the back, which was also a lot of fun. Ah, safety.
Explains everything. When I took my daughter down Woodward for the Dreamcruise a few years ago, she was amazed at the car exhaust smell. And, to be fair, it was pretty bad. I told her it smelled like that on all the busy roads in the country, 1940-1985. Couldn't be good for you.
I remember as a kid loving the smell of gasoline, and used to sniff it when Dad was filling up the tank. Also could explain a lot...
No, not hopefully...although he likely perused the 'ladies unmentionables' section while on the throne.
...So Now You Know... http://mentalfloss.com/article/23210/toilet-paper-history-how-america-convinced-world-wipe