I just bought a 70 Cutlass "S" and was wondering if this car has a collapsable steering column? If it doesn't would it be unsafe to use as a daily driver? I heard stories of the steering columns in old cars impaling people during a collision. Thanks for the help!

 

There are lots of things about older cars that make them not as safe as today's cars. I wouldn't single out the steering column and worry only about that. They also don't have airbags, antilock brakes, padded dashes (depending on how far back you go), shoulder belts, and more. There's always a trade-off. Older cars are cheaper to buy and maintain, but they don't have modern design and safety.

But to answer your question, I DO think that collapsible steering columns were in cars by the 1970s, so I would guess that your Cutlass has it. According to Wikipedia, Ford started installing them in cars in 1968, and that was after GM had started doing it.

 

GM was using collapsables for 1967. I think '66 was the last year of the spear.

 

There's a relatively widely-seen (I think) crash test between a 1959 Chevy Bel Air and a late-model Chevy Malibu. It was done by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety. The result is dramatic. The '59 was pretty much demolished and the driver likely would have died while the smaller, probably lighter Malibu, while certainly damaged, did a much better job of protecting the occupants who would likely just walk away.

The airbag did most of the life-saving, but it's interesting to see from the interior view of the crash from the Malibu side that the steering and dashboard didn't get pushed in at all while, in the Bel Air, they came forward and pretty much crushed the driver.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cJrXViFfMGk


Unfortunately, they had to destroy a perfectly fine '59 Chevy to do this demonstration.

 

"Standard No. 203 - Impact Protection for the Driver from the Steering Control System - Passenger Cars (Effective 1-1-68), Multipurpose Passenger Vehicles, Trucks, and Buses with a Gross Vehicle Weight Rating of 4,536 kg (10,000 lbs.) or less (Effective 9-1-81)
This standard specifies requirements for minimizing chest, neck, and facial injuries by providing steering systems that yield forward, cushioning the impact of the driver's chest by absorbing much of his or her impact energy in front-end crashes. Such systems are highly effective in reducing the likelihood of serious and fatal injuries."


Energy-absorbing steering columns were mandatory as of January 1st, 1968, along with

• controls being within the driver's reach,
• Auto Trans starter interlocks,
• PRND21 shift patterns,
• dual-circuit master cylinders,
• rearview mirror locations,
• smooth / padded interior surfaces,
• crash-resistant seats and door locks,
• shoulder belts.

- Eric

 

I think collapsible steering columns and dual master cylingders were installed on most cars in 1967. I don't know about the mandatory date but I have a hard time believing auto makers would install them a year earlier than they were mandatory. Interesting about the other items you mentioned MD. I never knew about those. How many remember the seat belt interlocks that were installed in 1974 and usually disconnected by the dealer when they delivered the car?

 

I don't think it's unheard of that manufacturers would start including a feature that the law required at an early date than the law specified, especially if it was a safety feature, as most of these requirements were.

If I'm not mistaken, along with the many requirements that were put in place starting in 1968 mentioned by MDchanic, manufacturers were also required to have 4-way flashers that year. But my '67 Delta has them, and my dad's '67 Vista Cruiser had them, too.

 

I had a '67 Valiant with dual-circuit M/C, but as far as I can tell from searching, the law requiring them was effective 1/1/68.
I can't find reference to a separate law for '67.

If anyone else has info on why that is, now I'm curious.

- Eric

 

My '67 Delta has a dual brake system. I'm sure it was standard equipment. I think Olds might have started including that as early as '66, but I don't know for sure. I know that the '65s did not.

 

Thanks for the replies!!