Not happy with DP driving

[Oldbellows]

DP has an old car. Vintage. Its open top, looks cute but has no seatbelts and you literally sit on the floor inside. There is nothing to hold onto.
we went out in it earlier as it’s a lovely sunny day.
he was doing around 40mph, but in such an old car, with no seatbelts it feels like 60! I got a bit anxious and kept asking him to slow down. He said i was a drama queen and didn’t slow up.
when we got home I said that a good driver would consider the feelings of his passengers, but he countered that if you don’t trust the driver you don’t get in.
needless to say I won’t be going out in it again but wwyd?

You don’t go in that death trap.

isn't that illegal? We had a 1970 MG and it had to have retro fitted seatbelts that were fully functional to even pass an MOT

Assuming you’re in the UK this is the relevant page from the gov.uk website today

regardless of the law, I’d feel safer with seatbelts - would he consider even a lap belt perhaps as a compromise?

For clarity that page may not be 100% relevant but the point being you don’t have to add seat belts to a vintage car.

I'd not go out in the car with him again, and I'd be unhappy about him driving it too. If he has an accident he has zero safety features to protect him. Fatal accidents involving vintage cars are not that uncommon.

The general consensus on threads about backseat drivers is "if the passenger is going to complain, let them get out and walk".

I think the only answer is not to travel with him in it again.

Or you could offer to drive instead.

I would never go out in a vintage car.

Modern cars have all their safety features for a reason.

Make sure that your husband has a good life insurance policy in place and that it would cover him if he dies in a vintage car.

You crash at 40 or you crash at 30, with no seatbelts it isnt going to be pretty so he thinks in for a penny in for a pound. I just wouldnt get in. Too risky.

Fatal accidents involving vintage cars are not that uncommon.

I can’t remember the last time I read about a fatal crash involving a vintage car, bear in mind the youngest vintage cars are nearly 95 years old, there’s not that many being regularly driven.

My dear bil died in an old soft top that flipped over. I would never get in a car like that.

Sounds like a nice car being manufactured during a time when seatbelts weren't a legal requirement and driving standards were better, and there were less people driving. I'd love to work on a car of that age. Minimal or primitive technology and no onboard computers. It actually sounds like a dream.

Your DP sounds overconfident, I would say. But he's right, don't get in a car if you don't trust the person behind the wheel.

I’d do what you’re doing and just not go out with him in it again.

Apologies, vintage and classic cars - please do correct me if I still have the terminology incorrect. There was a vintage car crash on a London to Brighton drive in 2019, classic car fatal crashes in 2023, one in 2013, one on the M1 in 2014. Lots of serious injuries too, not just fatal crashes, in classic cars without modern safety features.

Thanks for the replies. I don’t want to go in it again but at least I know it’s not “just me”.
it’s a shame, as it’s such a lovely car. But if he wants to take it to more car shows etc I will follow in my own more modern car with my seatbelt on!