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Back in the day it was thought that opening the passenger door and sliding across was safer then walking in the street and opening the door to get in.
Agreed. Seems kind of silly when you think about it, sliding across, trying to clear the shifter, expecially if you're a bigger kind of guy. I need to figure out how to get a key for my lock. Wonder if it comes out easy to take to locksmith?
Agreed. Seems kind of silly when you think about it, sliding across, trying to clear the shifter, expecially if you're a bigger kind of guy. I need to figure out how to get a key for my lock. Wonder if it comes out easy to take to locksmith?
I really don't think that is the reason. How many truck owners locked their doors back then, anyhow?
It was an economy reason. Keeping costs down by not having a driver's door lock could make the Ford trucks less expensive Than the competition on the standard cabs. With this thinking, I guess the lives of deluxe cab or Custom Cab, as they were called later, owners were expendable.
It was an economy reason. Keeping costs down by not having a driver's door lock could make the Ford trucks less expensive Than the competition on the standard cabs. With this thinking, I guess the lives of deluxe cab or Custom Cab, as they were called later, owners were expendable.
Aren't we quite the cynic. Economics are always a consideration; let's trust that Ford wasn't trying to cause pedestrian deaths with the door lock decision.
If you believe what wikipedia says ! it is exactly as quoted by others.. a Henry Ford safety feature..
It could be an urban (or rural) legend. I would like to see that in writing in some Ford produced paper or brochure or ad.
My point is, how many men locked their truck back then, or even took out the key at night for that matter. How many farm trucks and construction trucks parallel parked?
So by this line of thinking, the safety of Deluxe or Custom Cab owners was not a concern because they had a driver's door lock?
Does anyone have Ford literature that says this? I have not seen any in my 53-56 literature.
Time for somebody to press the "I believe" button.
Arguing for the negative is a pretty weak stand. OEMs, not just Ford, did not install door locks on the driver's door because there were many states that had laws against entering/exiting vehicles on the traffic side. This is not just a Ford truck issue, my 40 Ford coupe has the same arrangement as do many other makes and models. The law did not forbid the implementation of a driver's door lock but safety minded OEMs thought that it would be best to support the spirit of the law.
So a quick search provides some (gasp) hard data to consider.
From the 1920s through the immediate post-WWII period, pedestrian deaths were a real concern. As a percentage of all traffic deaths, pedestrians were around 40% of the total before a marked shift beginning in 1946. Since then, both the percentage and absolute numbers dropped. The rate to about 16% and the number of deaths to about 7800 / year, from a high of 15000+ in the mid-1930s. This data runs through the 1980s.
While many factors contributed to both the causes and solutions, it does follow that the automobile manufacturers would be looked at by consumers and government groups to address the issue. Charlie has cited state laws as a part of the response.
A picture to prove that it happened:
Source: Dept of Transportation, Federal Highway Administration Nov 2003
Rezvani's Latest Post-Apocalyptic Monster Is a Ford F-150 Raptor Underneath
Slideshow: Called the Fortress, the 850-horsepower pickup combines Raptor underpinnings with military-inspired features, survival equipment, and a starting price of $285,000.
