Think auto safety is a new idea? Think again. Here's a list of different safety innovations and when they were introduced in the United States.
1907-First seat belt offered on Thomas Flyer.
1907-Blacksmith attaches crude iron bar, or "bumper," to 1907 Oakland.
1908-First stop sign is installed in Detroit.
1917-Bumpers hit the big time. Popular Hero Safety Fender looks like a bike rack.
1935-Navy experiments with self-inflating air bags to keep planes afloat after forced landings. Doesn't work on planes, but car safety inventors use Navy data for work on car bags in 1950s.
1952-'58-Series of patents is filed for "automatic cushions" designed to protect passengers in crashes, including the Bertrand Patent of 1958 that features six air cushions as big as circus balloons.
1954-Safety padding introduced on dashboards.
1955-Safety door latches become standard on most cars.
1956-Ford Motor Co. offers a safety package on 1956 models that includes a deep-dish steering wheel, padded dash and safety belts. Flops because of popularity of Chevrolet models that year.
1963-Front seat belts introduced on Studebaker cars as standard equipment.
1964-Lap belts become standard equipment.
1966-National Traffic and Motor Vehicle Safety Act enacted to provide a national safety program and establish safety standards for cars.
1966-Ralph Nader publishes "Unsafe At Any Speed."
1967-'68-Manufacturers offer collapsible steering columns.
1968-Cross-shoulder belts added.
1969-Side-door beams introduced on standard-size Chevrolets.
1970-Ford begins to offer "ignition interlock" on vehicles. The device prevents the driver from starting the car unless the seat belt is fastened. Buzzer drives motorists berserk. Congress eliminates them as federal auto safety requirement.
1972-Saab 99E first car to surpass U.S. safety standards for 5-m.p.h. bumper.
1973-U.S. requires all 1973 models to sustain 5 m.p.h. front-end collision.
1973-General Motors Corp. field tests 1,000 Chevrolet Impalas with driver- and passenger-side air bags.
1979-Robert Bosch G.m.b.H., the German electronics company, introduces anti-lock braking system, which is first use on European cars in the mid-1980s.
1984-First mandatory seat-belt law passed in New York.
1988-Chrysler is first domestic automaker to put air bags in autos as standard equipment. Models involved include '88 LeBaron coupe, Chrysler 5th Avenue, Dodge Diplomat, Dodge Daytona and Plymouth Gran Fury.
1993-Nissan offers back seat air bag as an $1,800 Infiniti option in Japan only.
1993-Honda becomes first high-volume automaker to equip all of its cars with dual air bags.
1995-Volvo becomes first automaker to offer side air bag as an option.
1995-General Motors offers daytime running lights as standard equipment on 600,000 cars and trucks, including the Chevrolet Beretta and Corsica, Geo Metro and Chevrolet S-Series and GMC Sonoma compact pickup trucks.