Seatbelts

[JohnnyMarko 1]

...might belong in the SC. I see all these ads/PSA's about 'Click it or Ticket' and was wondering how many people actually don't wear a seat belt. Honestly, it's the first thing I do when I get in the car

[airtwardo 6]

Divot can't vote...no MOOBS option!

~ If you choke a Smurf, what color does it turn? ~

[AggieDave 6]

I have never ever cut a dead body out of a seatbelt!

I have untangled a significant number of dead bodies out of crashed cars, while taking pictures of their shiny seatbelt sitting retracted against the B-pillar. Then again, that is a function of my job (fatality accident investigation).

Also, wearing a seatbelt correctly is incredibly important. Wearing the shoulder belt under your arm puts you out of place for the airbag. It also leads to significant injury if you're in collision, from the seatbelt. Dislocated shoulder and shattered ribs being the most common. In Texas, wearing a seatbelt incorrectly (like under the shoulder) is considered the same as not wearing one at all.

Children who wear the shoulder belt behind the body, wearing only the lap belt become seriously injured in a crash, due to the seatbelt. Typically it results in the child's lumbar being destroyed, a lacerated spleen, liver and typically a destroyed intestine. This often kills the child later that day due to the bad injuries.

Wear a seatbelt every time. Children need to be in a safety seat and older children need to wear a belt correctly.

--"When I die, may I be surrounded by scattered chrome and burning gasoline."

[NWFlyer 2]

I was chatting about this with a friend of mine a while ago. He's a pretty levelheaded guy who generally makes smart decisions and is not what I'd call a risk-taker, but he didn't always wear his seatbelt. He said "Sometimes I just forget or get distracted." We talked about how we were raised and his parents didn't put a huge emphasis on it.

Mine, on the other hand, didn't start the car till everyone in it was belted up. Every time, no exceptions. Because of that, putting on a seatbelt is just kind of second nature to me - I honestly don't even think about it most of the time. It's kind of an automatic reflex - butt in seat, belt goes on.

So some people just never ingrained it. Some people are just stupid.

"There is only one basic human right, the right to do as you damn well please. And with it comes the only basic human duty, the duty to take the consequences." -P.J. O'Rourke

[ryoder 1,381]

I was once cruising along in the left lane of a 4-lane hwy, when some old bag decided to swing from the right lane to the left lane w/o bothering to see if the lane was clear. She ran me off into the median at 75mph. Do you know how bumpy those medians are? The only thing that kept me from flying out of that rag-top CJ-5 was the seat belt.

"There are only three things of value: younger women, faster airplanes, and bigger crocodiles" - Arthur Jones.

[millertime24 8]

I wear it most of the time. If I'm just driving from my appartment parking lot to the joining gas staion parking lot (read I'm not on a road at any point) then no... Unless I see a cop car in either parking lot, but even then, I've driven by cops in parking lots not wearing my seatbelt and so far no tickets.

Out on the road is a different story. It's buckled 100% of the time out there.

Muff #5048

[shropshire 0]

It's second nature to buckle up (Clunk, Click every trip).

I also won't start the car till everyone belts up. Not being killed by some twatmuppert sat behind me without a belt on.

(.)Y(.)
Chivalry is not dead; it only sleeps for want of work to do. - Jerome K Jerome

[JerryBaumchen 1,047]

HI Marko,

I voted All of the Time, 100% or however you named it.

Why did I choose to vote that way? Because I can; I am alive twice over because I had my seatbelt(s) done up.

JerryBaumchen

[JohnnyMarko 1]

Ooooooooooo
I just got a better idea for a poll...instead of cars, how about how many wear their seatbelt on take off when skydiving? That would be interesting

[millertimeunc 0]

Every time I go anywhere. Pretty hard to accidentally forget about it when my car bings and bongs incessantly at you if you go over 10 mph without it! That usually only happens as I'm leaving my driveway for work, in the process of putting in on.

The best things in life are dangerous.

[LongWayToFall 0]

I agree 100%. My folks were the same way, and I have friends that don't wear theirs because their folks didn't wear theirs either.

Just put it on!

[jonstark 8]

Always in the car. (beeps at me)
Rarely in the truck. (no beeper)

jon

[LisaH 0]

Lost a good friend through a windshield that wasn't wearing her seatbelt. It was a true wake up call.

I never start the car before putting my seatbelt on.

Be yourself!
MooOOooOoo

[oldwomanc6 38]

The generational explanation certainly applies in my case.

My dad started installing seatbelts in his cars in the '50s. I remember in the mid-'60s he bought a Ford Falcon with the understanding that when he came to sign the paperwork and take possession of the car, it would have the seatbelts installed. The family got to the dealership, and the seatbelts were nowhere in sight. Dad refused to take the car until they were put in. I don't know why (at that time) he was so adamant, but maybe the fact he was an aircraft engineer had something to do with it.

We were never allowed to ride without them fastened, and I have only ever once ridden w/o them. I was driving my convertible in a parade, and the whole time it was slightly uncomfortable, even though I knew I was perfectly safe

lisa

BTW my grown kids always use them. Habits are a powerful thing

lisa
WSCR 594
FB 1023
CBDB 9

[Galenis 0]

I used to work at a Towing company. After seeing countless wrecked vehicles is is now the first thing I do when I enter any vehicle.

It's time for my nightly ritual: Pleasure myself, weep, and repeat.

[Andy9o8 0]

Always, always, always. No exceptions. Same goes for all of my passengers.
I'm always having to remind my parents-in-law to buckle up in my car. Then they spend 5 minutes fumbling around with it as if they'd never used one before. Maybe it's because they've never used one before. ("We do so!" Yeah, right.)

Back when my oldest was a toddler I caught the 'rents-n-law having driven her somewhere without buckling her into her car-seat because "She was crying; how can you just let a child cry?" I almost slew them with my bare hands.

[AggieDave 6]

Quote

Back when my oldest was a toddler I caught the 'rents-n-law having driven her somewhere without buckling her into her car-seat because "She was crying; how can you just let a child cry?" I almost slew them with my bare hands.

A couple of months ago, I gave an extremely graphic explanation of a fatal I worked where a child only had his lap belt on and had it lose. The kid didn't die immediately, it took time for him to die due to his internal injuries. They were getting upset about it, but I was driving home the point. Then I put my child's safety seat in their car (they had him for the weekend, while we had a mini-vacation). They were surprised as how "secure it felt" against the seat. Then again, I installed it properly. They have a 4 year old (yeah, strange family), he's lucky if his seat is even more than tossed in the back seat!

Hopefully I got through to them, that if I catch them failing to secure my child properly or driving dangerously with my child, then the amount of time they get to spend with him will be cut drastically!

--"When I die, may I be surrounded by scattered chrome and burning gasoline."

[Andy0689 0]

Quote

I have never ever cut a dead body out of a seatbelt!

I have untangled a significant number of dead bodies out of crashed cars, while taking pictures of their shiny seatbelt sitting retracted against the B-pillar. Then again, that is a function of my job (fatality accident investigation).

Also, wearing a seatbelt correctly is incredibly important. Wearing the shoulder belt under your arm puts you out of place for the airbag. It also leads to significant injury if you're in collision, from the seatbelt. Dislocated shoulder and shattered ribs being the most common. In Texas, wearing a seatbelt incorrectly (like under the shoulder) is considered the same as not wearing one at all.

Children who wear the shoulder belt behind the body, wearing only the lap belt become seriously injured in a crash, due to the seatbelt. Typically it results in the child's lumbar being destroyed, a lacerated spleen, liver and typically a destroyed intestine. This often kills the child later that day due to the bad injuries.

Wear a seatbelt every time. Children need to be in a safety seat and older children need to wear a belt correctly.

Ever respond to an accident where an airbag fired on a passenger who was resting his/her feet on the dashboard? I always cringe when I see people driving down the highway with a passenger doing this. I can only imagine the trauma it would cause.

Seatbelts for me and my family- always. I don't feel comfortable in a moving car without one one.

Andy
I'll believe it when I see it on YouTube!

[JohnnyMarko 1]

Quote

I always cringe when I see people driving down the highway with a passenger doing this.

Guilty . I can't help it on a warm breezy day kicking back (while I'm driving ) and hanging my foot out the window....maybe I need yelled or at shocked to stop this habit

[AggieDave 6]

Quote

Ever respond to an accident where an airbag fired on a passenger who was resting his/her feet on the dashboard?

No, but quite a few where people were out of position for the airbag due to no seatbelt or wearing the seatbelt improperly. Talk about significant injuries!

Usually both wrists broken, broken hands (wrists broken by being blown off the steering wheel then hands broken by punching into the dash), broken nose, jaw and eye sockets. They often have some broken ribs and significant neck injuries too.

It is literally one-in-a-million in which not wearing a seatbelt helps someone, it is every single day that a lot of people across the US are killed by not wearing one.

--"When I die, may I be surrounded by scattered chrome and burning gasoline."

[Squeak 17]

I feel really wierd if i try to drive off without it being on.
Like that feeling you get when you know you have forgotten something important.

You are not now, nor will you ever be, good enough to not die in this sport (Sparky)
My Life ROCKS!
How's yours doing?

[airtwardo 6]

Besides all that...this!

~ If you choke a Smurf, what color does it turn? ~

[JohnnyMarko 1]

Quote

Besides all that...this!

Haha yes! I love that movie

[wmw999 2,120]

I remember being glad that my parents didn't make us wear seatbelts when we were growing up; they just threw a mattress in the back of the station wagon, and we were allowed free roam of the back.

But when I was a freshman in college, I got a ride from a friend named Pat McGee (who deserves to be named for his good influence). He told his entire carful that he wouldn't start until we all fastened our seatbelts. That was a really good example of positive peer pressure.

I admired the control he had over his passengers -- that he was able to just tell htem and have them do it.

I've worn it ever since. I'll admit to not wearing it when driving around the corner from the mailbox to the house, and feeling guilty every time (I'm 3 houses in -- I generally make it before the second set of beeps).

I hope I never really need it.

Wendy P.

There is nothing more dangerous than breaking a basic safety rule and getting away with it. It removes fear of the consequences and builds false confidence. (tbrown)

[kallend 1,623]

Quote

I have never ever cut a dead body out of a seatbelt!

I have untangled a significant number of dead bodies out of crashed cars, while taking pictures of their shiny seatbelt sitting retracted against the B-pillar. Then again, that is a function of my job (fatality accident investigation).

.

A friend of mine is an Illinois State Trooper and he makes EXACTLY the same observation.

...

The only sure way to survive a canopy collision is not to have one.