Car Technology That is now Obsolete (or will be soon, we hope)

Lockout safety features

There is no denying that wearing seatbelts saves lives. Therefore, it’s not surprising that car makers would do whatever they can to ensure that drivers buckle up. In 1974, they went so far as to introduce the seat belt immobilizer, which connected both the driver and passenger seatbelts to the car ignition. This meant that the car was inoperable unless both the driver and passenger were using their seatbelts.

Although a novel idea at the time, and a worthy one at that, the seat belt immobilizer never worked reliably. Moreover, customers simply could not stand them, especially when they did not work as intended. This combination of issues lead to its demise.