68 charger seat belts

[charge-it]

Did 68 Chargers have the two seat belts mounted to the edge of the headliner? Mine does and they look original to me. Someone just told me these didn`t start until 69. Anybody know the facts on this?

[Troy]

Some did - it was an option starting in 1966. All three of mine have them but my first one didn't.

Troy

[JimShine]

I believe they were optional to start, but became mandatory January 1st 1968. Kind of like the headrests in 1969 model year cars went from optional to standard at the turn of the year to comply with changing safety regulations.

[Troy]

Found it:
Passenger Cars (Effective 1-1-68)
Lap or lap and shoulder seat belt assemblies for each designated seating position. Except in convertibles, lap and shoulder seat belt assemblies are required in each front outboard seating position.
http://www.nhtsa.dot.gov/cars/rules/import/FMVSS/

Troy

[triple_green]

Translation: Cars built after 1/1/68 had them installed fromt he factory.

[Steve P.]

So what year car starts the seat belt law..  At one point I had heard 1968 started all cars must have seat belts. In NY. a cop buddy of mine said I didn't have to have seat belts in my 65'. Therefor I could not be given a ticket for NO SEATBELT..


Wakko,,, how about here in Florida???

[JimShine]

On the site Troy posted they feature seatbelt mounting regulations in '67, but I do not see when they became a requirement. Not much info there before 1967. In the '68 Charger dealer book, it shows that 4 lap belts were standard, center and shoulder belts were optional.