Do You Wear Your Seat Belt?

[Beefcube]

Yep, wear it. Wish I wasn't so computer stupid or I'd post the pics of my Mustang after the drunk hit me. Even with belt and bag I got tore up, but I'm still here ......

 

[Randyb1]

Only when Im being pulled over , I make my 5 and 7 year old wear one all the time.

 

[Treamayne]

I do - but only because the military makes it mandatory. Also, I would forfeit all of my Military life insurance if I was killed in a crash without a seat belt on.

However.....

I always wear mine. Believe me they really work. Airbags are a different story. I think they cause more injury than they prevent.

NOT TRUE!!!!!!

Seatbelts are designed for front and rear impact collisions *only*. Any side impact collision is only worsened by wearing a seatbelt. My mother is permanantly handicapped, having crushed 2 vertebrea which were romoved and injuring another, because she wore her seat belt. If she hadn't been buckled she may have been cut but wouldn't have been trapped in her seat and crushed when the car T-boned her. As with anything you take your chances either way... but anyone that says a seat belt will definitely save your life in an auto accident is spouting more BS than a politician caught in a hooker's bed. In many instances, the life it saves for you is worse than death.

I am also a strong opponant to seat belt laws (and pretty much any safety laws). I feel they are unconstitutional. The founding fathers said that onlyu those actions by one person that infringe on the inalienable rights of another shall be illegal and enforced by the government. My not having seatbelts impinges your right to choice, my not belting in kids impinges their right to life (not old enough to make the choice), but my right to chose to wear a seatbelt or not affects the rights of nobody but myself. My life - My choice.

<hops off soap box>

-K-

 

[Eins]

With 700 or so fatal accidents a week in the USA (I think), you bet I wear my seatbelt. Hardly any activity has a higher risk of accidents than driving a car, so if you believe in precaution at all, seatbelts are the thing to wear.

Back in the days when cars didn't have seatbelts standard, I had mine installed. Since then, over a million miles later, I never needed them, but that only means that the chance I might need them increases with every mile.

A crash at 20mph has such a strong impact that you are not able to prevent hitting the steering wheel. Impact squares with doubling speed. I wouldn't give you flak for not wearing them, though. Everybody is responsible for their own actions and I wish that you will never need them (at least until you finish and mail my newbie sampler )

J/K

 

[Swifty]

I am also a strong opponant to seat belt laws (and pretty much any safety laws). I feel they are unconstitutional. The founding fathers said that onlyu those actions by one person that infringe on the inalienable rights of another shall be illegal and enforced by the government. My not having seatbelts impinges your right to choice, my not belting in kids impinges their right to life (not old enough to make the choice), but my right to chose to wear a seatbelt or not affects the rights of nobody but myself. My life - My choice.

Here! Here! I totally agree, even though I always where one out of habit. I have heard the same info you stated. I don't , however wear a helmet when riding a motorcycle, unless it's really cold out. I'm glad I live in a state that still doesn't have a lid law. I think we need to quit making laws to protect ourselves from ourselves.

 

[SFG75]

Only on trips that are longer than five miles. Yes, I know you can be killed in under five miles. Knowing my luck, a seat belt will be the cause of decapitation for me in an accident.

 

[Eins]

<snip> my right to chose to wear a seatbelt or not affects the rights of nobody but myself. My life - My choice.

<hops off soap box>

-K-

[snapback]159985[/snapback]​

Not true. Insurances collect from the community for damage, not from the individual. I am part of the community. Therefore, your potential injury damage repair comes also out of my pocket.

In many instances, the life it saves for you is worse than death.

That may be, but in the majority of instances, seatbelt prevent more injury/deaths than none.

my $0.02

 

[bfreebern]

I always wear mine. Ever since my fiance got a ticket for no seatbelt, her 4 year old makes her put it on. Pretty funny to see a 4 year old always reminding his mom to wear her seatbelt.

 

[Lemon]

I always wear a seatbelt, and when I'm driving, I make sure everyone else wears theirs too. The driver is responsible for it here and will get a ticket for the passengers.

 

[j_crackington]

I always wear mine when I'm driving, it's just a habit to put it on.

I'm not nearly as likely to wear it when I'm riding with somebody else, not sure why. You'd think since I trust my own driving more, it would be the other way around.

Oh, and just for the record, I'm with Treamayne, seatbealt laws are BS. It should be a personal decision, not the govt's.

 

[ggiese]

INOT TRUE!!!!!!

Seatbelts are designed for front and rear impact collisions *only*. Any side impact collision is only worsened by wearing a seatbelt. My mother is permanantly handicapped, having crushed 2 vertebrea which were romoved and injuring another, because she wore her seat belt. If she hadn't been buckled she may have been cut but wouldn't have been trapped in her seat and crushed when the car T-boned her. As with anything you take your chances either way... but anyone that says a seat belt will definitely save your life in an auto accident is spouting more BS than a politician caught in a hooker's bed. In many instances, the life it saves for you is worse than death.

[snapback]159985[/snapback]​

Hhhhmmmmm... I don't know about that... It would seem to me you would be trapped in a side impact if you wore your belt or not... Your legs are under the dashboard, and there is always a transmission hump between (or certainly items which would be in the way if you were hit from the side) which would certainly cause serious injury. No doubt about it, side impacts are terrible. No matter the design of the car, the side panels of the car are not going to take an impact like a head on crash. Most crashes I've seen (and I've seen a lot) are primarily in the front or rear, where the car will offer the most protection. There are also times that no matter if you were wearing your seatbelt or not you're going to be killed in the crash (even a frontal crash).

So - do we plan for a side impact crash - or the possibility our car catches fire or submerges and we feel we might be trapped by the seatbelt - and NOT wear our seatbelt. It seems like a logical argument, but I think statistically you'll be blown away by the differences between wearing and not wearing a belt (and their effect on injuries or mortality)

The odds are VERY great that if you are in a crash, and not belted, you will suffer far worse injuries than if you did not wear your seatbelt. I've seen several ejections in fairly minor collisions where the person (obviously) was unbelted and was killed because they left the vehicle. In one case, the air bag deployed at the first significant event (struck a ditch). The van continued on and struck a number of trees before finally coming to rest. The driver, unbelted, was thrown through the windshield and ran over by the van (killing him).

I have seen persons killed in an ejection, and have yet to seen anyone trapped in a car because they couldn't get their belt off. As a matter of fact, the last submersion I saw, the two woman in the car were both unbelted but still couldn't get out of the vehicle...

Even in a minor crash (say a rear-ender), someone unbelted will fly forward and strike the windshield with their head. Let me tell you, you hit your head on the windshield hard enough to crack it you're going to feel some ill effects!! I have had a least one person die as a result of hitting their head on the windshield in a fairly minor crash (between 25 and 30 mph) - spooky because I had a rather lengthy conversation with her at the scene, and learned she died about an hour later...

Do I wear a belt - YOU BETCHA!!!! It's the BEST protection if you're in an accident. And I gotta tell you - it's not a decision you can make when the series of collision events begins. You can't put you're belt on when you are about to hit someone (or they're about to hit you)!!!

 

[Treamayne]

Just to clarify - I'm not saying seat belts are bad - only seat belt laws. I am also saying that each person should have the right to choose. Personally, only 1 of my four accidents were front/rear. In my immediate family (including myself) we have had 3 front or rear collisions and 7 side impact collisions. Of the side impact collisions, two required seat belts to be cut for removal. All resulted in additional hip and shoulder injury that the doctors described as something like "Resultant of the seat belt lacting back and locking the joints in place during collision." None of the accidents had airbags (most were before the standard and my two accidents here in Japan were both in pre-90s vehicles.)

Insurances collect from the community for damage, not from the individual. I am part of the community. Therefore, your potential injury damage repair comes also out of my pocket.

I've heard this before. In my opinion the insurance is a business. If a company wants to make belts required then clause the policy for non-payment for neglecting safety equipment, there are companies that do this already. It should not be a state or federal law. If your worried about my wearing or not wearing a seat belt adding fractions of a penny to your policy, then please get a policy with a company that follows your line of thinking. As for me - I pay my policy and deserve the legal right to choose.

-K-

PS: I would still probably choose to wear the seat belt, but let it be MY choice.

 

[AVB]

I always wear it., Saved my butt once and I'm sure it would do it again. If you get in my car you belt up or walk.

 

[surferonthecrystalcoast]

I do....It's the law here in North Carolina.

 

[Kento]

I wear mine out of habit, if nothing else.

 

[txmatt]

I'm with you, Gregor.  I'm not gonna trust my life to all the whack jobs out there.  Everyone thinks it's a damned NASCAR race every time I get on the highway.

[snapback]159954[/snapback]​

You mean 635 isn't a racetrack?

Always wear my seatbelt.

-Matt-

 

[BkCloud114]

Many people have many different opinions on if seatbelts work or not.... I make my 12 yr old wear hers all the time... but I do not.

I took an Evasive Vehicle Accident Course and have to say that you do have more control over the vehicle in an emergency situation. The seatbelt helps to keep you in the seat so you are within reach of the Gas pedal, brake pedal and steering wheel. I did the same evasive manuever at 60 MPH with & without the seatbelt and there was a significant difference.

That's my $ 0.02

As far as the Lid Law (Helmet Laws Suck)... If I go down on my bike it is only myself that I am hurting... My Ride, My Choice

 

[oak]

I typically do not, though I am trying to get into the habit. If reminded by the wife, I happily buckle up, I just usually don't remember on my own.

Oddly, I got a ticket for not wearing one a month or so ago - and my insurance was raised as a result (which I did not even realize was possible). That has caused my faulty memory to perk up more often - so score one for the useless ticket-givers... :0

Cheers,

- Oak