I got my license 36 years ago. The only thing the examiner dinged me on was failure to wear a seat belt. We didn't have them in my home town and the thought of using one never even occured to me. Even today I rarely use one.
I don't either. I only tend to put them on for long travel, and/or bad weather. You know, when the risk actually goes UP and isn't just .0006%.
The benefit of being able to wheel about and look at what's going on behind you is worth the "cost" of not having a belt on. (I actually LOOK behind me; I don't use just MIRRORS like the idiots who amble into my path thanks to their blind spot. Boy does that peeve me!)