7 Things in 1970s Car Rides the Law Later Changed

In the 1970s, the American car ride was different: gas lines, a new 55 mph limit, no seat belt laws, children in the back seat, smoking on airplanes. This film follows seven things that changed the car ride and the date each rule took effect: the 55 mph limit (1974), seat belts (New York, 1984), child car seats (Tennessee, 1978), air bags (model year 1998), emission inspections (Cincinnati, 1975), the drinking age (1984) and smoking on flights (1988–2000). Every date comes from an official record, and the photographs come from the EPA's DOCUMERICA project (1972–1975) in the National Archives. CHAPTERS 0:00 The Last Car 1:28 The Limit 2:27 Rush Hour 3:14 The Front Seat 3:41 The Back Seat 4:12 The Air Bag 5:17 The Inspection 6:17 Saturday Night 7:11 The Cabin 7:59 The Vacation SOURCES • FHWA, "January 2" and National Highway System Designation Act of 1995 (P.L. 104-59); NHTSA, Lower Speed Limits • NHTSA and New York State Police / New York State Traffic Safety, seat belt law (1984) • NHTSA fact sheets and CDC MMWR, child restraint laws (Tennessee, Jan. 1, 1978) • NHTSA Reports to Congress on FMVSS 208 and air bags • NIAAA and NHTSA, National Minimum Drinking Age Act (1984); South Dakota v. Dole (1987) • National Academies / NIH, The Airliner Cabin Environment; PMC case studies on smoke-free airlines; P.L. 100-202, P.L. 101-164 • Federal Reserve History, "Oil Shock of 1973–74"; U.S. Department of Energy, "The Federal Energy Administration" IMAGE CREDITS • Photographs by EPA DOCUMERICA photographers (1972–1975), National Archives and Records Administration · Public domain Some scenes are illustrative images created with AI tools, used for atmosphere only. They do not depict specific real events. MUSIC "Lost Time", "Pepper's Theme", "Stay the Course", "Dreams Become Real", "Reawakening", "Immersed", "Crossing the Divide", "Danse Morialta" — Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/b... #1970s #Nostalgia #AmericanHistory #RoadTrip #GasCrisis #EPADocumerica #HistoryDocumentary