I would venture to say that there were no seat belts for 2 of your family, as the Mears vehicles you are talking about were seven passenger and only carried seven seatbelts.
So you saved money by jamming people in the van and no sea belts for 2 of your group and you risked injury to some of your loved ones, in case of an accident. You ought to be proud of yourself.
I don't know where you were going but I guess that fare you saved was worth more than the value you placed on other occupants in the van.