The car industry's focus on safety -- after years of telling us that safety didn't sell cars -- started on this day in 1966, with the passage into law of the US National Traffic and Motor Vehicle Safety Act.
It followed years of campaigning by Ralph Nader, who targeted the US car industry's neglect of safety issues, using General Motors' dangerous Corvair model as a focus for his criticism.
The US Congress responded by passing a bill that established safety standards with strict penalties for violations, standards that were copied around the world.
Following a whole heap of updates ever since, we now have seatbelts, non-puncturable fuel tanks, airbags, crush zones, and bonnets that pop up on contact with a pedestrian.
The main upgrade now required is to the wetware...
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