Statement on Signing the Motor Vehicle and School Bus Safety Amendments of 1974
This is President Ford's signing statement for the Motor Vehicle and School Bus Safety Amendments of 1974, dated 28 October 1974, the day after the bill was approved. It says the act does away with the so-called seat belt interlock systems, which the record describes as meant to encourage belt use and as intensely unpopular with drivers. The statement also urges Americans to buckle up for safety, making clear that removing the interlock was not advice to stop using belts. This page cites it for the date and wording of the end of the 1974 seat belt interlock, and not for any effect on belt use, which the statement does not measure.
This is President Ford's signing statement for the Motor Vehicle and School Bus Safety Amendments of 1974, dated 28 October 1974, the day after the bill was approved. It says the act does away with the so-called seat belt interlock systems, which the record describes as meant to encourage belt use and as intensely unpopular with drivers. The statement also urges Americans to buckle up for safety, making clear that removing the interlock was not advice to stop using belts. This page cites it for the date and wording of the end of the 1974 seat belt interlock, and not for any effect on belt use, which the statement does not measure.
Written from the the document, American Presidency Project.
What our sources record
Recorded when this source was checked, figures included, with page references and quotation marks removed.
28 October 1974. The American Presidency Project. https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/statement-signing-the-motor-vehicle-and-school-bus-safety-amendments-1974