Last week I had a couple of good friends in a bad wreck, just about head on, these are smart people, business owners, mid 50's and you guessed it, not wearing seat belts.
I just don't get it, of the tens of millions of dollars spent on car safety, the key being to stay in your seat and be protected by airbags, yet so few people will put them on.
My friends lived but their lives will never be the same, he fared better then she did because of the airbag being located in the middle of the steering wheel, and he
being pretty tough, the airbags didn't do her so well, she has been in intensive care for a week, they are trying to save her sight, the windshield broke almost every bone in her face, the dash broke both of her legs and one arm.
If you give two chitts about your family or friends, not alone your own well being, put the damn thing on.

I wear mine all the time.

I sure try too.


ALWAYS when I am with the kids.

350 pound club bouncing around a cab is no good.

Good luck to your friends.

I won't go around the block without the belt. Having my face busted up because I flaunted the law taught me that lesson the hard way.

I'm against seatbelt laws and I always wear my seatbelt.

Good Reminder............ I always wear mine and years ago lost a cousin who might have been saved if he buckled up even though it happened before seat belt use was mandatory.

I always wear seatbelts....

Guy I work with had his father die to being stubborn and not wearing a seat belt. He was elderly and had a hard fender bender. His chest hit the steering wheel and caused enough trauma for him to later pass away that day. I'm not a Dr. so I dont know the specifics but my friend says he would have undoubtedly survived if he had his belt on.

Always.

some times, it's a choice I make.

I don't. Makes it hard to text.

Besides, I want to be throwed clear of the hulk like deer assassin. Good advice

I never used to wear them, pretty much hated the things. My wife used to get after me all the time about not using them. One February afternoon after a sudden snowstorm, I buckled up just because it was so damn slick. You guessed it....10 minutes later I was in a 4 vehicle wreck that totaled my 1 ton crew cab diesel. Six people walked away from that one. The worst injury was a broken nose. Everyone was wearing seatbelts. I have worn a seatbelt every time ever since. Five years later I had another guy attempt a left hand turn across my lane, like I wasn't even there. Both vehicles were 1 ton crewcabs. Totaled both trucks. I walked away. The other driver wasn't wearing a belt. He lived, but left on a stretcher, unconscious and with multiple broken bones. So yeah, I wear one. All the time.

I need to be better about it. My wife and kids always buckle up. I do outside town but in town, I stink at it.

It's such a reflex for me I've caught myself belting in when I sat in the car just to check something, not even putting the key in the ignition.

If you could she what's left of this woman's face it would shock you, her eyes are swelled shut and they both look like tennis ball size turnips, her head is shaved so they could split her skull to relieve pressure on her brain, and sadly every bit of it avoidable by simply buckling up.

The govt here in Tn doesn't believe schoolkids on buses need seatbelts. But that changes with a magic wand when same kids are in your POV.

Then all of the sudden, since it's the citizenry; it's an opportunity for revenue enhancement. All about the children huh?

How about when a motorcycle cop issues a car driver a seatbelt violation ticket?

seatbelts work most times, but not always. my first wife was killed in an auto accident. she wasn't speeding, she had her seatbelt fastened and the airbag deployed as expected. sadly, she died anyway.

Always wear mine, saw a clip last month from Live PD. Jeep Grand Cherokee hit a ditch then rolled several times. 5 Passengers only the one wearing a belt walked away uninjured the other 4 were ejected and wheeled into ambulances.

Nothing works every time, but I can say with all honesty that most of us had more to do than hope the hell that they lived and their families were taken care of, it's a damn selfish thing to do to others.

Same here. I wore them all the time before they were required. But I don’t need the govt telling me to wear them.

I've always worn mine. It started with my first car a '68 Dodge Polara with a vinyl bench seat. Between that seat and the body roll I had to wear the belt just to keep me behind the wheel. Never quit wearing them.

I wear mine religiously. In 33 years of fire/EMS work I have been to a number of wrecks in which a seat belted person walked away with minor, if any, injury when wearing their seatbelt. The worst was a cabbie who fell asleep at the wheel and hit a bridge abuttment at roughly 70 mph in a late 80's Crown Vic. The hood, both front fenders, both rear fenders, and the trunk were torn off by the impact which left the vehicle upside down. Upon our arrival, no passengers were to be found. There was no blood or other sign of a person having been in the vehicle.our best guess was either an earlier passerby picked up the driver an drove straight to the hospital or that the car fell off a transport vehicle and the driver kept going. A half hour after clearing the driver was found at a residence a half mile away. He had one minor bruising in the face from face planting on the roof when he unbuckled his seatbelt.

The two worst was a family of 5 getting hit on the front corner at about 35 mph combined speed. They turned in front of another car on a residential street. No one in the family vehicle were belted in. Father was driving and he walked off with minor injuries. Three of his children were called at the scene while the fourth held on three days. The driver of the other car did not have a scratch.

The other was one of my nieces. She was riding in the back seat a friend's car. She was ,"too cool" to put on her seatbelt and her friend did not insist on my niece putting on the belt. Needless to say, they got t-boned backing out of a space in a parking lot and my niece was thrown across the vehicle, hitting her head on the opposite door. She had to have a chunk of her skull removed to allow room for the brain to swell, a fairly radical procedure. She was kept in a coma and a respirator for almost two weeks until she began to show improvement. She left the hospital 6 weeks later with some facial and left side deficits along with some memory loss and difficulty with impulse control. Her high school grades as a junior prior to the accident were in the 3.8-3.9 range, she graduated with an average of 2.6 taking two years to finish her last year of high school. She can't drive as she suffers from the occasional seizure.

There were times those unbelted walked away while those belted in died but the former was a rarity and the latter was more a matter of speed, angle of impact, and age of the vehicle as the newer the vehicle the better belted in passengers are protected.

Always.

I wear them first and foremost because it’s the law, second because they can save your life in a crash.

Buckleing up is a terrible inconvenience that might save your life some day.

Not buckleing up because some government entity tells you that you have to is arrogant ignorance.

Seat belts save lives.

I only wear mine when I've had too much to drink.

For years, I would tuck the lap belts down between the seat and seat back. When the chest strap came in I started to use them and now do so religiously. (I also wore a helmet in my motorcycle days. I didn't at first, but started after I took a beetle in the ear, and he decided to carve his initials onto my eardrum. Later on, I managed to have an issue with a railroad rail cut that crossed the road at an obtuse angle. The smear on the top of the helmet and the way the shield looked like it had been attacked by lions caused me to greatly appreicate beetles.)

Always since 1980. Prior to that my wife would hold our daughter on her lap. 1980 is key because that's when I went back into the Marine Corps after graduating from college and the Marines put on a huge seat belt campaign, with all the gory films showing what happens when you don't wear your seat belt. I immediately saw the benefit and implemented the change in my driving habits.

I remember when they first put seat belts in cars. Just simple lap belts. I'm thinking, gee we're all race car drivers now. What the hell, I was maybe 19 at the time, maybe 20. My car was a 51 Ford two door sedan and the seats were a bit ratty so I put in a set of do it yourself seat covers. Looked pretty good too. I was in a hurry going home and to a corner rather fast as slid all the way to the right side of the car. There was an auto parts store a block from my house and I made a stop and bought a set of seat belts. I don't remember if I put a set in the back seat or not but I do use them religiously ever since. I believe the current style does work better but a bit uncomfortable on hot days. I got T-boned a few years back and I got a bruised elbow and my wife a bruised knee. We were using our belts. The woman who hit us was not, Her steering wheel looked like a pretzel, the windshield was cracked where her head hit it and she suffered not only a bad concussion but the blow from the steering wheel aborted her unborn baby.
Paul B.

20 years in the military made it second nature to wear my seat belt, I never go anywhere in my truck without my seat belt on. Wife never use to wear hers, she was always worried about it wrinkling her clothes but she learned pretty quickly from me when I would not put my truck in drive unless she had her seat belt on.

They help you stay in the car.

No. I always feel it is much more important and safe to drive in such a manner as to not NEED a seat belt.. And I don't like gov't telling me I gotta wear one to ensure I'm safe.. EFF that.. That should be MY choice - not gov't..

I wear one when I want to wear one - which is every time I have the camper on the back ... Like this:




Would it be different if I hadda drive in Mudduckland's metro traffic every day? Probably.. 2nd-worst drivers in the US would make anybody think twice..

Back in the old days of open wheel racing, when the driver stuck up like a lightning rod and the cars didn't dissipate energy through destruction, it was thought that exiting the vehicle was a better option than staying with it.

It's essentially the same decision as CCW. Not a guarantee of safety, not always convenient, hope you never have to use it, but it won't do you any good if you don't have it on you, so you still put it on......

I really don't know how anyone can share the road with the many cell-phone users out there without taking every safety measure possible to keep themselves safe.

I've found myself reaching for a seatbelt when riding ATVs and snow machines.

Never worn a helmet ever, but wear a PFD nearly all the time when on the water.

i do.

too much you can't control on the road. Folks now days simply dont pay attention. And texting doesn't help.

I never use to wear a helmet until I got into snowmachining but I still don't wear one when i'm out and about in the Rhino.

Required by law. Enough said. While I am all for freedom of choice, what kind of example does it set for others, family and friends, to see you flaunting the law. Besides it just makes good sense.

Now there's a guy that will turn in all his firearms and say thank you whilst doing it.


I don't understand people not wearing them. I have no use for the law, but would have no problem with insurance not paying medical bills if you didn't have one on.

Car seats too, should all the younger kids be in car seats? Airbags on every seat? You'll need 2 additional monitors on the bus to ensure the kids are buckled in and to unbuckle when they need to get off the bus when it catches on fire.

Better yet, your kid, your responsibility to get the little bastard to school, not the governments.

I saw a BMW weaving all over the Schuykill Expressway- thought he was drunk so I made an effort to get out around him. When I drew up level my GF said "look at that!" There was a blonde straddling him and bobbing up and down, and he had his arms around her gripping the wheel. The GF commented, "at least he had his seat belt on- and furthermore buster do not get any ideas."

don't need the law to wear one. twice in 60 years of driving they have saved my life. rolled a toyo pu 6 rolls down a mountain with arm flopping out to be rolled on but the rest of me stayed in. other was a head on with a drunk illegal on a hiway offramp. spent 2 weeks in hospital. he went to the morgue.

I'm a firm believer in seat belt use. Buckling up was a nuisance early on but anymore has become second nature for me. Now not buckled up feels odd like something is missing much like not having my wallet with me and in the correct pocket same for my wrist watch.

With that said though, one of our daughters is and always has been anal about always using seat belts but for some unknown reason she either didn't or forgot to buckle up one time and had a real bad wreck ejecting her out of the sun roof leaving her with injuries serious enough to need life flight to a major trauma center. The KSP trooper who worked her wreck said he is a total believer in seat belts as well but judging by the condition of her wrecked car he honestly believed that that one time because she wasn't buckled up and thrown clear was the only reason she lived through it.

Good friends lost one of their identical teenage twins who was a passenger in a wreck and not buckled up The young teen driver was DWI but was buckled up and survived with relatively minor injuries.

Lost a cousin back before seat belts were mandatory. Wrecked on a rain slick street, thrown out of the van he was driving and it rolled on top of him.

In rare cases where a vehicle is on fire or in deep water I can see how passengers using seat belts could be at as much risk or more than not especially if they are injured and even more so young children who have to be buckled and unbuckled by someone who knows how.

Now, this is a serious question (not aimed to flame) but do you - every single time - come to a full stop at every stop sign? Do you never, ever exceed the speed limit by even one mph?





In many areas - I agree.. But not here. YMMV..

I always wear mine except when on the farm.

Back in the 80's I was asleep in the back seat of a car that rolled and wasn't buckled in. We all came out OK but it sure wasn't any fun playing part of tennis shoes in the clothes dryer.

I was in a wreck where the if the driver of the PU would have died if he had been wearing a seat belt. Roll over accident that crushed the driver's side roof down to the steering wheel. He was tossed over to the passenger side when it flipped.

I was sleeping in the back and ended up in the middle of I5 in the torn off canopy. Both of us should have been dead or severally injured but walked away with just scratches.

That said I know that the accident was a statistical anomaly. I wear the belt reflexively.

On the other hand, I had a friend who was driving an MGB and hit a patch of black ice. He spun a donut, at speed, and was sideways when he re-entered dry pavement. Rolled that bugger several times and the only thing that saved him was centrifugal force which drove him down into the passenger seat.

I always wear them. I ask people that don't if they wear them when they fly? If they say yes for protection I tel them when you hit something at 600 mph they only thing going through your mind will be your azz! Yes, I know they keep you off the ceiling in turbulence.

I wear one. 150 dollar stupid check for not wearing one isn't in my future plans. Off public roads I don't.

I'd be dead right now if I made a habit of wearing seatbelts.

I was in an accident this past June, several vehicles were involved, and I was hit head-on as part of the aftermath of the original accident. The vehicle that hit me suffered fatalities, I was injured but not permanently. I have since fully recovered, just having some scars from cuts.

I give credit to having the bigger vehicle, airbags, and seatbelts.

Cell phone............

Never leave home without them.

i wear mine,my truck will drive me nuts till i wear it.have to at work etc.get points on license for knot wearing them.they keep ya from going though windshield.about 40 years ago my aunt went though windshield,she suvvived,but spent the rest of her life in a room,cause she was so disfigured.this was before plastic surgery etc.they did not have much money etc.she had a mask on to talk to family.this was before seatbelts in cars.

Why? Seatbelt chime?

It's the very FIRST thing I disable when I buy a new truck. Procedure's right in the owners' manual. Dealer's 1.5 miles away - and that's what's on the odometer when I get in the driveway.. Disable that damned chime and life's good..

I just knew by saying it's the law, I would get all kinds of bull schidt about, "now there's a guy who would turn in his firearms, no questions asked", and "do you always stop for every stop sign and do you never speed." For your edification, here's some information. Draw your own conclusions.

The NHSTA is America’s official record-keeper when it comes to traffic accidents. According to its data, seat belts represent the single greatest public-safety innovation in automotive history. In the past 50 years, 14 safety innovations have saved 613,501 lives. They include frontal airbags, child safety seats, and side impact protection and curtain airbags. But not one has come close to seat belts, which are responsible for saving 329,715 lives—more than half the total.

If you don't believe me, Goggle it yourself.

One question. If you knew you were going to be in a gunfight would you wear body armor and a steel helmet if you were given the choice?

Enough said, I am out.

I always wear mine on the road. Off road, I use some fake seat belt inserts I bought on line. Pop them in to shut up the chime, then take them out to put seatbelts on to drive on the road.

Always wear a seatbelt in the car. Always wear a helmet on my motorcycle even though Idaho law does not require it.



Never think of the inconsistency of being safety minded enough to buckle up in a car but then riding a motorcycle...

Nerd alert.




Dave

I'd stay home.



Dave

20yrs in the Army so its second nature. Like some say I will not put truck in drive until everyone is buckled up. Few yrs ago we were on our way to Tok it was dark already roads covered in snow but we were moving along I come around slight turn I see flashing lights it’s my bud. Then I see some semis pulled over I look down a vehicle down in the trees. Long story short lady fell asleep (she was in her 50’s I guess) flying off the road you could see where she hit the accelerator and right into the biggest birch tree. That Toyota Highlander holy [bleep] the fron had a bug U in it. You could see where her head hit the windshield. She was half hanging out of the car in and out of consciousness. Only thing that saved her from becoming one with that birch tree was the airbag and steering wheel cause she didn’t have a seat belt on. Oh no cell service one of the truck drivers had a sat phone. Took the troopers and ambulance from Tok a good hour to get there. Anyhow she was life flighted to Anchorage if I remember right her heart was dislodged.

So, you refuse to answer that question? Why? Not "obeying the law"? It was a serious question, and you got yer panties all in a wad. Goggles are worn.. Google is a search engine.. And FWIW, I think now more people are being killed via inattentive driving/on their damned cell phones more often than any other.. (from Google: General Cell Phone Statistics. The National Safety Council reports that cell phone use while driving leads to 1.6 million crashes each year. ).. That's a ton more than 613,501.. Ban cell phones totally when driving.. Works for me.

Nope - slows ya down... Speed of movement, getting to cover, and accuracy will save yer bacon quicker..

I bet you come back...

The gist of this all is:

It should remain a personal choice... Wear one if ya want, don't if ya don't.. That's the bottom line, period.

It's a piss poor choice at that, it directly involves your family and friends, and it takes a selfish son of a bitch to put ones family through the angush over stupidity.

This.

Religiously.
I was involved in a wicked rollover crash a number of years back.
I was T-Boned by a drunk going 60.
I have no doubt the belts saved our lives.

Remember reading back around 1999, that 50% of vehicle deaths were from "intrusion".
Dunno how that number has changed.

Just had a kid die next county over, suspect high speed, car ended up in a creek.
Dunno if he had belt on and drowned or was killed by impact.

Two on my mom's side (2nd cousins?)..........killed by not wearing seatbelts. Two different wrecks. Slow roll.
Half way out

My kids always buckle up, but recently they rode with an idiot and they told me about it. Chewed their arses out.
Make better choices..........don't ride with that ^%$#@ ever again.

Like a friggin seatbelt makes it OK? Evidently they thought that..........but changed mind after, had to tell me how scared they were.

Ok YOU are a “safe driver”.. what about the other guy or usually, a woman on the cell....

In a roll ever, the safest place to be is inside the car. Ejections are often fatal or, at best, serious. Nobody rides in my car without them.

If you don't wear a seat belt while in a moving vehicle, YOU ARE STUPID.

I actually wore them before it was required by law. I'm still opposed to the law, since you, as an adult, should be free in a free country, to take (or not take) whatever personal safety precautions you believe are needed.

I'm a habitual drunk driver - I wouldn't be caught dead not wearing my seatbelt!

Yes, if they're good enough for NASCAR they're good enough for me.

In all seriousness, I'd be dead today if I didn't wear my seatbelt. I was in an accident 20 years ago that I was lucky to survive. Had I not been wearing a seatbelt I would have had no chance. I'm not exaggerating. The other two people involved died despite their seatbelt and I was on the brink. As seatbelt and a trauma surgeon saved my life. Wear your seatbelt!

I still am quite pissed its a law. Should be my decision and NO one elses.

That said I wear mine most of the time.

Religiously.

Always! My first new car was bought in the Spring of 1964 and it came equipped with seat belts. Have used them ever since. Have needed them twice.

My opinion was reinforced a couple of years later when reviewing accident reports at work and saw an example of a driver in a local accident who got ejected due to lack of seat belt use and who was run over by his own car and killed. Over my work life I reviewed and read thousands of police traffic accident reports. This was back before privacy laws came into being. By far more good was done by the use of seat belts than by not using them. Would be more supportive of freedom of choice if non-users had no car or medical insurance paid if not using belts.

I have a s-i-l who doesn't like to wear them but he does when riding with me. He says its better than the bitching he has to listen to.

Jim

Conversely, if you worry yourself with what other people do that affects you in no way, YOU ARE STUPID.

Same

Always, because it makes sense, law be damned. We have a seat belt law of course and you can tell how well it works by the many fatal accidents reported on the local news which should have been survivable. Usually someone's first and last flying lesson.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M70yoV2ZizY

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RcSg4kb1uxg

I buckle up before I start the truck. I would be dead or crippled without one.

You’re a Daisy if you do!

I never used to wear one.
One day, driving like an idiot, I hit some cinders went into a series of skids.
I ended up on the side of the cut bank, still sliding, with my hand on the steering wheel and my body on the passenger side of the car,
darn need standing on the door.
I could feel that the car would roll if it stopped, and steered down onto the road.


Anyhow, not having a seat belt could have caused me to totally lose control when I got away from the wheel.
I have belted in since.

My car doesn't move till everyone's buckled. If you want to see the effects of not wearing a seat belt, go to a junkyard some time and look at the cars with head plant broken windshields. If that doesn't make you rethink your decision to not wear belts, nothing will.

I always wear my seatbelt, seen too many cases where people wasn't wearing one and died, firsthand, and it is the law where I live.

You can argue all that stuff about being trapped all you want, but the majority of the time wearing seat belts out weighs all the other concerns, many simple crashes where a properly restrained person would have lived.

Wore them when I raced. I've been upside down in a race car.

Wear them when I drive on the roadways, no exception.

There is only one place I go where I don't wear my seatbelt. It's a skinny two track dynamited out of a cliff face about 6 inches wider than a jeep or compact truck. About 20 feet below the road surface the rock curves back in under the road .. in other words, it's undercut .. and it's about a 200 foot drop to a scree slope if you went over the edge, then a quarter mile of rolling before you'd hit trees. Pretty nearly guaranteed fatal if you are in a vehicle that goes over the edge, you HAVE to stay in the road ... no matter what ... or you die.

There's another similar spot but I've only gone uphill through it and going uphill, the driver is on the outside. There's no jumping. Passenger might escape but the driver is plain ol' dead.

Otherwise, I wear the darn thing. I didn't when I started driving. Not all of our vehicles had seatbelts. When the law changed to require them, I started. It hasn't slowed me down getting in or out in a hurry ... nor, hypothetically, does it interfere with shooting out the window or other such illegal activities. The biggest "wear it" enforcer for me came when I drove a jeep for about 10 years, often with the top and doors off. Bombing down the freeway at 65-80 mph, you feel somewhat exposed anyway .. that seatbelt is a serious comfort.

Tom

I used to wear one occasionally. But since 8/06/1983 I've never driven without one. On that day my brother was driving, I was in the passenger seat. We rounded a curve on a wet road and started skidding. The center of our car hit the left corner of a late 60's Ford truck. My face went through the windshield. The force caused both vehicles to spin 180*. Both ended up facing each other in the opposite direction they were going. The force of spinning probably saved us all and threw me back in the seat. It wasn't a true head on, we hit at about a 45* angle.

The driver of the truck suffered a broken leg, the 2 passengers were unhurt. My brother had minor scrapes and cuts. I was cut pretty badly on my scalp and above one eye. None of the 5 were wearing a seatbelt.

Three years ago some local teenagers were driving home after school. The driver ran off the shoulder, over corrected and rolled an S-10 Blazer. The passengers were buckled, the driver not. He was thrown out and died. The other 2 didn't get a scratch. I drove up on that one just as the fire dept. and police arrived and ended up being blocked in by emergency vehicles. I had no choice but to stay a while, long enough for parents to show up. I'm a retired teacher and knew all 3 kids. I taught at least one parent of each of them so that one was personal.

In my new truck i wear them because i don't like to pay extortion money to the state to satisfy the feds.

In my 63 truck and 71 land cruiser nope.

I resisted for a long time but the company I worked for made failure to wear them a termination offense, after a while it got so I felt guilty not wearing even them on my boat.
It's an ingrained habit now.

No way other than increased insurance?

I think everybody needs to wear a full face helmet and a life jacket when they drive a car,...and a class III bullet proof vest when they're out hunting.

,...and ladders need to be outlawed completely. If you can't afford a hydraulic bucket truck you just need to keep you feet on the ground.

Don't even get me started about tree stands.

yep........purty much all the time

In fact,....after long deliberation on the matter,...I think it's probably best if everybody just keeps their asses piled up in the bed 24 hours a day 7 days a week.

Ya can't be too safe these days!

I always wear mine because I prefer that somebody else not raise my kids - my wife might not marry as well the second time. 😄

I couldn't figure out how to fasten them - Then it clicked.

I couldn't understand why the ball was getting larger...then it hit me!

They were an option in '66. When I bought the truck, I added a set. I still don't like 'em, but I wear it most of the time. (Always bends up my reading glasses.)

i seldom wear one in my 1 ton, but do in a car or smaller truck.

I wear them always, sort of.

I am always in a hurry, and don't like to wear a seat belt when I am maneuvering in tight quarters (truck driving thing).
So, I always put my seat belt on after I start down the road. It drives my wife crazy, and is a stupid habit, but.............

I'm always reaching up for my seat belt...then I remember that I'm in a boat. How lazy to you have to be not buckle up?

I’m 50/50...........when I’m out of State I do, when I’m home I might.

George

Yes.

Not as often as I should. Often reach for it on the the highway on ramp.

Need to make an effort to be better about it.

I am against seatbelt laws and I always wear my seatbelt.

I was a paramedic for 14 years. I worked many hundreds of car wrecks. Let me tell you, seat belts work!
Yeah, you hit an oak tree at sixty it probably will save your life.

But much more common is the 25 mph head on, guy turning into a shopping center hits another vehicle, slow speed.
Paramedics get to the scene, one driver is walking around, looking at damage to car, neither car is totalled. He is unhurt.
He had his seat belt on.

The other driver is slumped over the wheel. Dumb ass didn't have his belt on. Blood is gushing from his mouth, two teeth knocked out.
Gonna be some oral surgeon work there, several visits. Painful.
Also, he has a fracture of the cheek bone beneath the left eye, that bone is thin and easy to fracture, here again, gonna be one or two surgeries by a bone doctor and plastic surgeon.

Walking around, or 4 months of painful surgery? It is your choice.

I remember one wreck I worked, I have tried to forget most of this stuff, trying to avoid PTSD, but y'all reminded me of one wreck.
Rural Georgia. Three high school dollies riding around after school in a pickup truck, Jap truck with bench seat. Of course, no seatbelts in use.
The girl was on a dirt road, driving slowly, went off the road at about 15 mph. What the f*** would cause someone to leave the road at 15 mph I don't know, dumb ass high school kids.
So, there was a 3 foot deep ditch on either side of the road. She just went down into this ditch, the right side of the pickup went into the ditch.
The truck leaned up against the red clay bank next to the ditch. And the little 16 year old dollie next to the door, the window was down of course, her upper torso and head went out the window and her head was crushed against the door frame and the red clay bank.
Dead Right There.
After she got her head crunched, the truck rolled back onto all four wheels, and when we got there, the dead girl was sitting right there on the bench seat, slumped over. Other two girls standing in the road, crying.

Other two girls, not a scratch on them. About $300 damage to the truck, mostly, washing the blood and brains off the door.

Yeah, I had forgotten that one, I remember it because her father was a game warden that I knew.

Take it from an expert, seat belts work.

I think it is kind of an IQ test.


mike r

So, you’ve never wore one?

Sheesh, and i call you bro from another mo.

This place brings out the best in me. I remember the pricks. Time for a break.

Religiously!!!!

Jim

Not often before it became law in NC. All the time since.

Once had a LEO friend of mine say "I've never unbuckled a dead person...."

I think that's funny there!

Makes no difference where you drive. All it takes is one person to cross the centerline, run a stop sign or red light on you and you're screwed.

NYH1.

I wear mine all the time.

I do out on the road system.

Someone always comes up with a story about how someone was saved because they did NOT have a belt on. You hear those stories because they're the exceptions to the norm. Those who are saved because the DID wear one outnumber the others by a very large margin.

I'm sorry to read that and for your loss

I don't know how you can't nowadays. My car makes so much damn noise if both the driver and the passenger doesn't belt up it drives you crazy

In Colorado it is a law that you must wear a seatbelt, but for motorcycles no helmet is necessary.

I don't like the seat belt or the helmet law, it shouldn't be the Governments job to save us from our own stupidity.

That said. I wear my seatbelt 95% of the time, the 5% is the 1/4 mile up the road to take care of my cow type critters. My kids automatically put theirs on all the time.

When I rode I had a helmet on about the same percentage.

It's dumb not to, but the government shouldn't be in charge of having us not do dumb things.

It should not require a law, it is Darwinism in action.

I do wear seat belts when on public roads and may on forest service roads. I also feel it should be my choice. In over 50 years of driving, the wearing, or not, of a seat belt has had absolutely no effect on my survival simply because I have not hit anything hard enough to need it. The same applies to child seats. We raised two children and travelled hundreds of thousands of miles with them in the car and the lack of a child seat had no effect on their lifestyle except to allow them to be comfortable while travelling. I should add that I knew hundreds of people back when we did not have child seats and these people had hundreds of children. I know of exactly zero children who would have been saved by a child seat. I think seat belts are important on heavy equipment and do know of several guys who were killed or badly injured by not wearing a belt on a skidder of Bobcat. I have retro-fitted a belt to my old D4 because it can buck pretty good.
I won't even ride down the driveway on a motorcycle without a helmet and the helmet has saved me from serious injury at least once.
We had one good friend who was killed in spite of the fact that she was wearing a seat belt and her van had airbags everywhere. She was killed by a young woman who was texting on her goddam phone and drove straight into our friend's van.
In the end, I think seat belts are a good thing and usually wear them. I do have friends who were undoubtedly saved from injury by the wearing of a seatbelt .
I think the wearing of a lifejacket when on the water can be a true lifesaver but common sense can go a long way here too. Several years ago there was a cop who was wearing no life jacket but was wearing his belt with gun, baton, flashlight, handcuffs etc. and topped it off with his bullet-proof vest. He leaned over the side of the patrol boat , fell in and plummeted to the bottom and drowned. It wasn't a month later that I saw a cop on our lake, dressed the same way, leaning over the side of the boat to pull in a rope. I was in a canoe and hollered over at him "Hey! Dumbsh--! You ever watch the news?" He only looked puzzled at first, then angry, then embarrassed when his partner said something to him.
I think helmets when riding a motorcycle are an even better idea and always wear one. Nonetheless, I don't need the intervention of the nanny state to keep me safe. I'll do that myself. GD

Is this thread about your lovelife?


mike r

I’m fine with requiring drivers to wear their seatbelt. There are instances, like swerving for a deer or other vehicle, hitting an object on the road, or getting tapped by another car, where a seatbelt keeps your azz in your seat, and in control of your car - so that YOU don’t hit ANOTHER vehicle.

As has been mentioned, I don't like the idea of it being mandatory, but I like the idea of accident insurance for medical services being negated is they aren't worn. Hopefully that could serve to lower the rates for everyone.

Every time I see a cop. Unless my window is up, which it usually isn't.


DMc

I have no choice if I want to keep my hearing. I drive a newer Silverado and the dang dinger will make you deaf if you don't put your belt on!

Oh gimme. A break. How could anyone be too stupid to not wear seat belts.

I sit in the car, reach over with my right hand, bring it back and click it. Viola. 3 seconds.

As for ,"well I don't want .gov to make me," .gov makes you drive on the right, .gov sets speed limits, .gov makes you stop at red lights, and on and on.

In a vacuum, I'd agree. It's not, because my insurance pays to keep the vegetables who didn't wear one breathing. As long as it costs me, and it does, then I have a voice in the decision. Stop putting them on life support, just let them die, and my view will change.

Tom

[
[/quote] No. I always feel it is much more important and safe to drive in such a manner as to not NEED a seat belt.. And I don't like gov't telling me I gotta wear one to ensure I'm safe.. EFF that.. That should be MY choice - not gov't..[/quote]

Just Curious , Do you have kids or grandkids and do you make them buckle up, and if you do, why?

If you take a hit hard enough to take you out of the seat its pretty unlikely you will maintain control with a seatbelt on, and if that happens to be the case I would bet statistically the percentage is too small to be included in any reporting.

I've heard that argument before and its a hail mary. Not wearing a seatbelt is esentially a victimless crime that is very useful to LE....

Violating all of those examples are shown to get INNOCENT people killed........that's the difference

I always do. Before I retired my company had a strict policy about wearing seatbelts. It was enforced by having drive cameras in our trucks and security cameras at the gates. It was a firing offense to get caught without. So, I got into the habit. I was also a pilot at one time so I was already used to the idea.

the accident reports here always say whether the driver and/or passengers had their belts on. The fatalities and more serious injuries usually don't have them.

Have to wear them properly too.

First fatality I responded to was because the shoulder belt was not used.

Been several since where the seat belt did not save the life of the driver.

Nothing was going to however.

After about 10 years as a firefighter I always wear it. And while I do not like govt intrusion in my life there is real personal benefit to this law that I don't think has been mentioned.

There are always a limited number of ambulances available. So, two cars wreck. They are both occupied times two. Unfortunately the guy with the two broken arms, and the gal with the ankle bent sideways will have to wait for an extra hour or two for transport. Reason for the extra wait? A couple of unrestrained occupants are hurt way worse so they get transported first! Ironic, ain't it?

Not saying I necessarily disagree but where to you draw the line? Are you in favor of Portland OR law that requires people to wear bicycle helmets? Many head injuries from bike accidents can make a person a vegetable.

I'm the one with that story. Thank God I was not wearing one.

Jilles Villenueves car (1982) dissipated its energy through destruction , but he still defied his 6 point racing harness
to jettison- become airborne. ( freeze video at 20 sec to see him)

FIA faced stiff opposition from drivers about mandatory wearing of seat belts, as a result the rules on belts
were lapsed and tardy....the much safer six-point harness was not in F1 until mid-1970's.

In cases like Roland Ratzenberger 1994 at Imola, being held by a harness vs flying out - would make zero difference.

My grandfather told me:

"The one's who don't wear a seat belt -
Are the one's who wear a sheep belt."

Hope your friends heal up well, but I think they made a bad decision. I used to have my kids convinced the car wouldn’t go into gear without the belts being buckled. Buckling has saved my life or limb several times

Old 70

I always wear a seatbelt and feel weird not wearing one. Years back the WSP had a public infomercial where a state trooper said he’d never cut a dead person from their seatbelt which maybe for him was the truth but in reality I’ve cut many dead people out of their seatbelt. That doesn’t change the fact that seatbelts save lives. I still don’t like the law that requires ADULTS to be required to wear one just like I hate helmet laws for adults. The idea that it saves the taxpayers is pure unadulterated bullshitt since everyone is required to maintain vehicle insurance and usually also have private insurance.

Children are an entirely different matter and I believe they should be required to wear one at all times when underway. My son is just starting driving and if I catch him not buckled then he loses the privilege of driving. My trucks my rules.

I have been on many calls where there’s no doubt that the seatbelt saved grievous bodily injury or death. Seatbelts significantly reduce the likelihood of ejection and those are never a good outcome.

I cut one guy out of his seatbelt but his head was absent from his body. He fell asleep, over corrected and his head went thru the sun roof while the car skidded a hundred plus yards on its roof. It looked like someone painted an 8 inch red line across the hiway where his head was ground off.

Most motorcycle accident fatalities wouldn’t have changed the outcome either way.

To all who don't wear them, thank you. I work full time as a flight nurse. Sometimes it's exciting to go on a "good" call.

Yes. Every time.

I lost my brother in a low speed head-on with a cement truck. It happened in his neighborhood at a combined speed of about 25 on an icy curve. He was wearing his belt. It damn near saved him. The bruises on his shoulder were a testimony to that fact. He lasted a week, but the swelling in the brain was too much. His Jeep Cherokee did not have airbags like the following model year did. 80,000 pounds of cement and steel was about 20" over the line. It doesn't take much. It happened 11 years ago today.

I believe it is an aortic tear. Body stops, internal organs continue moving forward (i.e. the heart) stretching and sometimes tearing the feeds to the heart. When I was a reserve cop we worked a wreck on a sunny Saturday afternoon. Simple fender bender, left turn in front of someone else, speeds maybe 30mph. Both parties out of their cars and talking when we arrived . One driver wasn’t wearing a belt but said he was OK. Refused medical attention ride to hospital which was literally 500 yards away. He just wanted to go home and rest.

Yep - you guessed it. We get a welfare check callout to his residence a few hours later. Bring the meat wagon, boy done died- bled out internally. An afternoon in the hospital instead of going home changed his fate forever.

There can be government laws that serve no legitimate purpose. Seat belt and helmet laws are not in that realm. They are common sense safety laws that save lives every day and have a minuscule negative effect on our personal freedom. It is one thing to have the freedom to do something stupid that can harm you. But it is another thing when your act of freedom costs the rest of us money in extra car and medical insurance costs or hurts those we love. Others might consider this the price of freedom, not me. So on my end I do not want my kids to even think they should have the freedom to not wear a seat belt or a motorcycle helmet.

Seatbelt and helmet laws are a revenue maker.

Wear them all the time, and make sure all passengers do as well.

Try to, and do wear em most all the time now, first time in 55 years, back last fall when a OHP Trooper fastened my belt for me and said, it may save your life, I saw true concern in his eyes.

I was headed to the Doc for a CT/MRI? scan for a rorotor cuff tear, couldn't have fastened that belt if I tried.

Agreed..

But my son and his wife always wear theirs - and always wear helmets on the bike.. Bless 'em..

We have a lot of comments on helmet laws. I've heard many guys say the wear them on the highway but not in town (where legal). That's backwards. If you lay one over at 60, most likely you're toast helmet or not. In town at low speeds is where they'll save you. At 20 mph, hitting your head on a curb or pavement is going to do some real damage.