I find seatbelts to be much more apt comparison to masks then the shopping cart meme*.

Seatbelts had been around for decades before even being an option for cars. The first seatbelt was invented in 1885 and until the 50's the seatbelt we are talking about is the one point lap belt style like you have on an airplane. This seatbelt was used in taxis as well as streetcars to "prevent flying from the vehicle". It was until 1949 that Wisconsin based Nash Motors, one of the top automotive manufacturer in America at the time offered seatbelts as an option in their automotives. This was still the one point lap belt style.

This move was met with fierce opposition and American's favourite pastime, ignoring science if it doesn't fit your narrative. Despite numerous studies and practical tests proving the opposite fear of internal injury, prevention of escape from a submerged car, and devices failing were the main arguments.

Sept, 25 1961 Wisconsin because the first state to mandate to use of seatbelts. This seatbelt was not the one point lap belt but the new 2 point seatbelt invented by an engineer at VOLVO which did not patent the idea so it could be used by all automotive manufacturers. Even then this new seatbelt had the same kind of arguments. The newest argument being that of personal choice. A letter to the Appleton Post Crescent in 1964 stated, "As long as the life risked is his own, I believe the individual should decide whether or not the use of safety belts is wise."

It wasn't until 1963 and Ralph Nader's Unsafe At Any Speed bill, that the federal government got involved and set a minimum standard for seatbelt usage. However; this was about minimum standard to sell the vehicle. It was until 1984 that New York became the first state to implement a mandatory law about wearing a seatbelt. Slowly over time the other states followed suit with Maine and South Dakota being the final two states to implement such a law in 1995. The kicker is that while automotive manufacturer lobbyists were massive proponents of seatbelt laws, it was to avoid laws about airbags which were "too expensive and not as effective as seatbelts".

A Gallup poll done by the LA Times in July 1984 had 65% of Americans did not use a seatbelt, some even going as far as cutting them out of the vehicle. The Anti-Seatbelt Movement is still alive and well in America.

Edit: me for meme