My first injury in a car that I can remember happened when I was around 2 years old. This was in Seattle before there were green, Yellow, Red traffic lights. Then there were only the train types of arms that went up and down and on these arms one said "Go" and one said "Stop".
Because there was no yellow or caution light cars often ran into each other and T Boned each other when there were cross streets without the yellow lights.
I didn't see a traffic light of green, Yellow and Red until we moved to California to San Diego in 1952 when I was 4 years old.
My mother didn't drive our car which was a 1941 Buick that my Uncle Tommy bought new in 1941. Since his brother didn't come back (from world War II) my father kept his 1941 Century Buick in memory of his brother until 1956 when we bought a brand new Century Buick that was two toned Yellow and White.
My first injury was caused because I was standing on the rear seat of the car holding my father's drivers seat and pretending I was driving at age 2 or 2 1/2. So, when my father turned a corner I didn't expect it and fell against the window winder. However, I didn't cry even though it hurt my face because my father wouldn't be there for me if I cried. If you were a manly child then you didn't cry and since I wanted my father to like me and spend time with me I learned not to cry no matter how much I was in pain by age 2.
The next injury I can remember was while my mother was learning to drive the 1941 column shift stick shift Buick in Tujunga around 1954 when I was 6. My mother had never driven before and I don't think her parents even ever owned a car before when they lived in Seattle. However, I know they owned a Model T Ford that they drove from Omaha Nebraska where my mother was born and drove it to Seattle. But, I don't know if they owned a car after that.
My mother hit a mailbox trying to turn and shift at the same time and hit the brakes which threw me into the front window of the car. I think my head and lips were bleeding but it didn't knock out any of my teeth. Also, I learned not to cry around my mother either even though my face hurt in several places.
Later when I was 12 we owned a 1960 Mercury Station Wagon that was a huge boat like car. With the back seats all folded down it turned into a place where you could put a bed and sleep or you could fill it with luggage or whatever. So, my friend also 12 years old used to lay down with the seats down and sing songs like "It's an itsy bitsy teenie weinie yellow polka dot bikini" and laugh then and my father said we could lay back there while he was driving as long as our feet were pointed towards the front of the car so we wouldn't slide forward and break our necks then.
This is a lot what it was like then growing up without seat belts. IN many ways I liked it much better than now because you were more free in how you experienced life and in how you lived your life.
By God's Grace
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