This 1949 English photograph shows a baby strapped into a novelty car seat fitted to the outside of a car door.Every year, car seats save countless children's lives. When used correctly, these plush little chairs can reduce the risk of death by up to 71 percent for small humans. That's really important, especially considering that car crashes are the leading cause of death for children ages one to 13.But it has taken decades of innovation for car seats to become the safe automobile accessories they are today. The early days of children's car seats were less about safety and more about making sure your baby wasn't crawling around the gas pedal, clutch, or brakes. Some even attached to the outside of the car. Because what baby doesn't want a view?So let's strap ourselves in and take a gander at the strange, sometimes bizarre history of children's car seats. Click on the below images to expand to full size, and ask yourself—do you miss the days of metal frame car seats that ride shotgun?Children's car seats through historyIn the 1930s and 1940s, car seats often had dangerous metal frames, without even a seat belt or restraint to keep babies and toddlers secure. Not to mention that younger passengers would just ride around in the front bench seat next to the driver, something not recommended for children under 12-years-old today.The metal frames of these early car seats could prove fatal to infant passengers. Image: DreamMedia / Contributor / Getty Images DreamMediaThis 1938 style car seat would do little to protect young passengers in the event of a crash. Image: ullstein bild Dtl. / Contributor / Getty Images ullstein bild Dtl.In the 1960s, several different kinds of children's car seats were invented, including the Jeenay Car Seat. British journalist and mother Jean Ames invented the seat in 1962. The seat featured a foam pad and a three point harness system, and was also the first children's car seat intended to be used in the backseat.A small boy holding a lollipop sits in Jeenay Car Seat, the first car seat intended to be used in the back seat. Image: Hulton Archive / Stringer / Getty Images Hulton ArchiveIn 1967, the Ford Motor Company introduced a new kind of children's car seat they called the "Tot Guard." In the May 1972 issue of Popular Science, the seat was described as having "a cleverly designed padded shield to cushion the face and head of a child in case he's thrown forward and down in a front crash. The pad is kept in place by a lap belt fastened around it so the child is not harmed by pressure of the belt in a crash." The seat cost $24.95, or about $200 today.In 1967, the Ford Motor Company introduced a new children's car seat dubbed the "Tot Guard." Image: Bettmann / Contributor / Getty Images BettmannThis photograph of Ford's Tot Guard children's car seat accompanied a May 1972 story in Popular Science entitled "Safe or Unsafe? The Truth About Car Seats." Today, there's no debate about whether car seats are safe: They most certainly are. Image: Popular Science, May 1972 issueIn the early 1970s, manufacturer Pride Trimble built Pride Trimble's 875 model, but the car seat failed federal testing. Popular Science featured the seat in a May 1972 story entitled "Safe or Unsafe? The Truth About Car Seats."This car seat cost $18 in the early 1970s, about $150 today. Image: Popular Science, May 1972 issueBeginning in 1980, Canada mandated that all forward-facing children's car seats be tethered into a car. However, in the United States, tethers weren't required for another 20 some years later.This photograph taken for The Toronto Star shows a children's car seat that uses a strap at the top of the seat that attaches to the car frame—something that became mandated in Canada in 1980. Image: Al Dunlop / Contributor / Getty Images Dunlop; AlanBy 1985, every U.S. state, including Puerto Rico and the District of Columbia, had passed laws mandating the use of children's car seats. That same year, the Australia government was also doing a major push to promote car seats in a campaign called the Bassinet Loan Scheme. The campaign set out "to make infant restraints available at a nominal fee to parents of children up to six months old in all municipalities in Victoria," according to a document from the Australian Road Traffic Authority. By March 1988, 13,271 car seats had been distributed. The initiative even got the British royal family involved.Princess Diana and then-Prince (now King) Charles helped promote Australia's initiative to distribute child car seats in 1985. Image: Princess Diana Archive / Stringer / Getty Images Princess Diana ArchiveIn the 1990s, car seats were commonplace across the United States and came in a range of fun, geometric designs.In the 1990s, car seats featured bold, geometric designs. Image: Smith Collection/Gado / Contributor / Getty Images Smith Collection/GadoYet another colorful 1990s child's car seat. Image: Richard Olivier / Contributor / Getty Images Richard OlivierIn 2000, the British government launched the now iconic THINK! campaign, which set out to reduce children road deaths by 50 percent by 2010. The campaign still promotes car safety today.One-year-old William Cheskin from Peebleshire, Scotland, sits in his car seat as part of Britain's national campaign to encourage the proper use of child car seats. Image: David Cheskin – PA Images / Contributor / Getty Images David Cheskin – PA ImagesIn the February 2002 issue of Popular Science, journalist Kelli Miller wrote a story entitled "Come Ride with Me, Baby," about a rear-facing infant car seat built by Xportation Safety Concepts Inc. that would put the baby in the front seat. Needless to say, experts were livid about the potential risks of the car sear, especially since it would be placed directly in front of an airbag. The U.S. government never approved the car seat for use.Xportation Safety Concepts engineering manager Dave Clements wasn't worried about the potential safety concerns of his company's rear-facing infant car seat, even claiming he would put his own daughter in it. Something we would not recommend. Image: Popular Science, February 2002On September 18, 2006, Great Britain passed major legislation that mandated that all children under 12 years old or under four feet, five inches (whichever came first) had to use an appropriate car seat.A young Charlie Woodhouse gives a big thumbs up to promote the new children's car seat legislation passed in 2006 in England. Image: Bruno Vincent / Staff / Getty Images Bruno VincentToday's car seats are rigorously tested for safety. Some of the first formal tests began in 1972, when Consumers Union (now Consumer Reports), tested 15 different child safety restraints. Of the 15 they tested, 12 failed. At the time, this highlighted the need for better testing and regulations.Modern child car seats endure test crashes at various speeds, must remain secure at even high speed crashes, and must be flame resistant.A child-sized dummy undergoes a 35 mile per hour crash test at the Dorel Technical Center car seat testing facility in Columbus, Indiana, on Tuesday, March 25, 2014. Image: Bloomberg / Contributor / Getty Images
