The Legislative Process
The worsening injury picture prompted a series of Congressional investigations. Beginning in the House during the late 1950s, these culminated in nationally-publicized Senate hearings in the mid-1960s at which auto industry executives attempted without success to fend off legislation to regulate the safety of new motor vehicles.
During the Senate hearings, independent engineers, physicians, safety researchers and other knowledgeable witnesses described in detail the designed-in hazards of even the newest cars, as well as the patterns of injuries these hazards were causing. Manufacturers were charged with making vehicles that were not only prone to accidents due to design flaws, but also not crashworthy. This meant that they did not incorporate designs and features that would minimize crash injuries such as seat belts, energy-absorbing structures, laceration-reducing glass, and other characteristics for lowering the exposure of crash occupants to injurious forces.
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