How Driving Has Changed in the Last 50 Years

Taking your driver’s test is a rite of passage, but in 1970 it was a little harder than today. Learning how to perfect the K turn or squeezing between two cones was a little bit harder in your dad's big boat of a car. Teens getting their licenses today have zero clue how lucky they are. Some of today’s vehicles will do the tricky parallel parking for you, and even without that all of the censors and cameras around your car makes any parking such a snap. And while there is a lot of appeal to the super cool looking muscle cars of the 1970s, they weren’t exactly designed with the driver’s comfort in mind. Today you can find vehicles with so many custom amenities that can be suited to precisely to the needs of you and your family.

Some of these features existed before 1970, but weren’t found with any regularity, but the changes made in the last 50 years have completely changed the experience of hopping behind the wheel. So, while we’re still a ways off from the flying cars ‘70s kids had been hoping for, there are some pretty great improvements to be thankful for.

Back in 1970, front seats would move forward and backwards, and you could flop a seat forward to climb in the back, but there are cars today, that know the preferred settings for each driver. You can do the standard recline, but also go up, down, adjust your neck, lower seat cushions, request your perfect lumbar support. The Lincoln Navigator has a 30-way adjustable seat, making the driving more comfortable than sitting on the couch.

If you grew up in the ‘70s or before then, you’ll have vivid memories of your mom reminding you to manually lock your car door when you left the vehicle. And having to do a sweep of the car to make sure that they were all locked. Now anti-theft systems are standard on most cars, and lock the doors with the touch of a button.

Getting lost is getting harder and harder to do. Most newer vehicles are equipped with a massive GPS screen put in, and because your car knows where it is (creepy, right?), it can help you find your way to almost any destination. In 1970, you’d have to rely on the ability to read a map, or ask a kind stranger or gas station attendant to help you find your want home.

In the ‘70s it wasn’t uncommon to lose your keys, or lock them inside your car. Today’s keyless entries make that much more difficult (though surprisingly not impossible). And there are an increasing number of cars that start with a button push and don't even require a key in the ignition.

Being able to see if someone else is pulling out at the same time, or a pedestrian jumps out unexpectedly is a feature that really only started becoming popular about 20 years ago. Vehicles made after 2018 in the U.S. are required to have these cameras.

While not in all cars yet, Tesla models have self-driving or autopilot features. While you still need to be awake and alert, the cars will do most of the work for you. And for those without a Tesla, so many car makers have put in advanced cruise control (that will know if the cars in front of you slow down and adjust accordingly), have features that keep you centered in your lane, and some will brake your car to avoid a crash. And many autos do parking themselves, where you can get in that perfect spot with the press of a button.

There have been seatbelts available since the 1950s, in some models, and the three-point harness (the one with the strap that goes across you) was invented by a Volvo engineer in 1959. But regulations requiring cars to have seatbelts didn’t go into effect until 1968, and even then, it was state-by-state on required usage. New York was the first state to mandate drivers wear them while driving, and New Hampshire still doesn’t have a seat belt law. But in many modern automobiles, they will make an annoying noise if they sense someone in the driver or passenger seat until the seatbelt is engaged, as a grating reminder.

Back in 1974, President Richard Nixon put in the National Speed Limit of 55 mph, according to the National Safety Council, this measure helped the number of traffic fatalities decrease. But Sammy Hagar wrote a whole song about how he couldn't drive 55. But we're guessing he's happy now as in most states the average speed limit on highways is 65, and in some places even higher.

You may not entirely know what the ABS feature on your car means, but this 1978 invention was some of the first anti-crash technology put on cars. This tech is a monitoring system that can keep you from spinning out and having your wheels lock up, by controlling the brake pressure. That, along with traction control and electronic stability control have made it so cars don’t slip around on the road so much.

Nothing is more annoying that long lines at a toll booth on the drive home from vacation, so these popular readers, like EZ-Pass, that charge right to your account have made that experience so much better. Many highways, like the Mass Pike, have removed the toll booths entirely and bill people by scanning their plates.

Only one car 50 years ago had “variable speed” wipers (the 1970 Lincoln Continental), you know, the ones that make it so you can deal with a drizzle or a downpour in different ways? Until other car makers caught up, those wipers had one-speed and would make the worst noise if there wasn’t enough water.

According to the Environmental Protection Agency, due to emissions laws cars today are 99 percent cleaner from pollutants like carbon monoxide and hydrocarbons than similar models from the 1970s. No big puffs of black smoke coming out of your tailpipes (unless something is seriously wrong with your car). The EPA also phased out lead in gasoline starting in the 70s (fully prohibited after 1995), which made the lead in the air decrease by 94%.

Sure, in the 1970s getting a good stereo sound system to listen to the radio loudly and play your favorite 8-tracks (yes, the transition to cassette happened over the course of the ‘70s) was key. But now, you can plug your phone into your car, listen to any songs you want from your streaming music device, enjoy satellite radio, your favorite podcast or anything. And you can also talk to people through your cars Bluetooth, use voice-to-text to send messages and have outlets in the backseat and your own Wi-Fi hot spot so the kids can play on their devices instead of asking constantly, "Are we there yet?"

According to Car and Driver, the first car to offer an airbag was the 1973 Oldsmobile Toronado, and then that safety feature was only available to the front-seat passenger (not even the driver!). A year later several manufacturers offered both driver and passenger airbags, but that was far from the norm. Laws requiring airbags didn’t go into place until 1998.

While fuel economy varies wildly based on the car and weight and a number of other factors, the market for cars that use electricity and not gas have a huge advantage. Hybrids like the Toyota Prius, get significantly better gas milage than standard gas guzzlers, and fully electric cars, like Teslas, just require battery charges and no gas at all.

Not popularized until the 1980s and 1990s, but one of the best features to keep you from bouncing all over the place, or feeling pain in your lower back because of every tiny bump in the road. The active suspension, adjusts for road-surface irregularities, and while you’ll still get a jolt from a huge pothole, smaller rocks or cracks go unnoticed.

Hopping into a car with a toasty seat was invented before 1970, but it wasn’t a feature seen in many cars until much later. And cooled seats took even longer, and still aren’t available in many vehicles. Massaged seats only started in 2000, and are most in luxury vehicles, but hopefully available for the rest of us in the near future.