<VV> Ridiculed by others... (no corvair)

[Secular]

  Volvo had the first safety belts in 1849. The first U.S. patent for 
  automobile seat beats was issued to Edward J. Claghorn of 
  New York, on February 10, 1885. 

  Claghorn was granted United States Patent #312,085 for a 
  Safety-Belt for tourists, described in the patent as "designed 
  to be applied to the person, and provided with hooks and 
  other attachments for securing the person to a fixed object."

  Swedish inventor, Nils Bohlin invented the three-point seat belt - 
  not the first but the modern seatbelt - now a standard safety 
  device in most cars. Nils Bohlin's lap-and-shoulder belt was 
  introduced by Volvo in 1959...

  source:

  http://inventors.about.com/library/inventors/bl_seat_belts.htm

  ----

  In 1955 Ford offered for the first time lap belts as an option. In 1956, 
  largely at the insistence of executive Robert McNamara, seat belts 
  were offered for consumer automobiles within the "Lifeguard" 
  safety package.

  The safety device was met with ridicule by others in the industry, but it
  caught on with the public. By 1964, Most U.S. automobiles were sold 
  with standard front seat belts; rear seat belts were made standard in 1968...

  Source:

  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seat_belt

  Nils Bohlin:

  http://www.theautochannel.com/news/2007/04/13/043648.4-lg.jpg