“We crowded into cars that had no seat belts — or, if they did, had them only in the front seat, while we sat in the back. There were car seats for toddlers, but they were designed to hold the kid upright, not to offer any protection.”
They forgot the worst part of riding in a car back then. Being the youngest, and having to sit in the back seat where the “hump” was. (curse you, rear-wheel drive!)
I traveled many miles standing on the hump looking out the windshield when I was small.
Then there was playing in the woods. BB gun wars while running by the water moccasins so fast that they didn’t have time to strike.
Then off to a relaxing swim in the oil field ponds.
That night we rode bikes behind the DDT truck.
Later we drove motorcycles and Jeeps on what turned out to be the most expensive Superfund site in the nation.