I will not ever be strapped in a vehicle.

I am not a statistic, but an individual.

I will take my chances not strapped down.

I have witnessed too many steering columns buried in seat-backs.

I believe excessive speed, in-attention to the business at hand, CELL PHONES, un-ruly children, following too close, passing on the right/blind side, ignoring good manners, etc., etc., are way higher contributing factors to safety.


I wish they would make all our highways DRIVE AT YOUR OWN RISK, no insurance, no blame, you have a wreck = you just had a wreck, you get hurt = you are responsible for your own welfare, you tear up a vehicle = you just got a tore up vehicle.

No recourse, no lawyers, no cops, just drive at your own risk.

It was pretty much this way, back when I was a kid; and, people drove a whole lot more sensibly than they drive now.

They rely on insurance, ONSTAR, and cell phones too much to be concientious drivers.

Just my thoughts on the matter.

 

I usually always wear mine... And if I dont, I feel like im naked or something. Its easy enough to put it on while your waiting for the start light to go out.

 

i worked at a dirt track for 5 years as a tech inspector, i couldnt agree more, just remember some of the foreign cars with 5 points have to be removed for the "better" 3 point american belts so they can be DOT legal..........

 

I wear mine all the time. It was a rather interesting experience having an intern in my cruiser tonight ask me, "Do you always wear your seat belt or do you just wear it becuase i'm in the car?". I caught her off guard when I said "No I"ve gotten in to the habbit of always wearing it when the car is in moving". Now mind you there are and will be some emergency situations that I will end up not having the time (aka don't have a third arm) to buckle up, but they are few and far betweeen.

When i'm in my crusier, I have made what I think is good habbit of buckling up when I'm moving and unclicking as i'm turning on to the street or general area i'm responding to. I also always unbuckle when I'm stopped to do paperwork, ect. so I can move, jump out, get at my side arm more easily if something arises.

It seems to me that too many LEO's get injured more than they should because they don't buckle up. Honestly it took me a good while to make the habbits I have now, but if for some reason I get hit or hit something, I'll be glad it was on.

Been at two fatalities this year.... the ONLY reason they were fatal was due to ejection from not wearing a seat belt. One accident there was only the operator, partially ejected and then pushed back in. Second accident 2 passengers, one injured fairly well but not perminantly due to a pole hitting his door(wearing seat belt), 2nd passenger walked away with with aches and pains(wearing seat belt), the 3rd was killed on impact due to no seat belt.

I know many say that they know, heard of, read of, been told of, someone who was killed due to wearing a seat belt, but what they are never told of anymore is the hundreds that live every day because they did buckle up. (And let be fair here everyone, I'm talking about accidents on the public road system, not race tracks and drag strips)

My state requires seat belt usage and I have no problem with that, though I believe that if you really don't want to wear it, its you're decision and your fate. So as with everything in life, its all in the choices we make and the roads we take... no pun intended.

Mike (over tired after a long night as usual)

 

I usually take the time while the glow plugs heat up to put my seatbelt on to make efficient use of time.

BearKiller, how is not using a seatbelt going to help you with that steering wheel thing or anything else?

 

I was in an accident when I was 13 years old. The seatbelt law had just come into force in Alberta not to much earlier.

Due to a drunk driver, we went from 65 mph to zero in milliseconds. The seatbelt caused injuries that nearly killed me, but I'd be dead if I had not been wearing it. So, I wear mine where other traffic is involved. I don't wear it when driving at low speed around he farm for example.

It's airbags that I don't trust.

 

I have always worn a seatbelt even when they were not required, 1965 Mustang had a Simpson lap belt and shoulder harness for both front seats. That moved on into my 1970 Mustang and was upgraded to a 5 point, roll bar and side loops, I wore them till the day I sold it.

It is a lot easier to control your car when you are not sliding around in your seat.

I wear them in my Dodge and feel safe because so the size and weight of it, this I know for a fact because I have already totaled to imports on my back bumper.

I am a safety fanatic and will not even get into or allow my family into something I feel is unsafe, meaning small cars. I have been in 2 accidents that if it had been a Toyota or Honda it would have been fatal.

Even with seat belts I feel the small cars are a death trap, I call them Death Boxes the door handles are for the pallbearers.
I see them speeding past me on the freeway with 5 people stuffed in them and you know if they get hit there is no place to go when the side is caved in to the centerline.

As long as I am in my big truck I feel there is far less of a chance of being hurt wearing my belts than if I wasn’t and went bouncing off the interior.

How about the old cars from the 60’s with the big metal dashboards and the pointy radio *****.

Those used to really hurt.

I do have an issue with the person driving down the street with their stupid dog on their lap with its head hanging out the window.

Or the 3 small toddlers standing up on the back seat jumping up and down.

I don't trust airbags either.
Jim

 

Mine goes on before the key goes in. Not necessarily saying that I like them but one, it's the law and I don't like blue lights following me and taking my money. Two, if you were to look at the statistics (which is what we seem to relate everything to any more), I'm sure seat belts have saved more lives than they have taken. I know for a fact that two guys here at the plant were saved by seat belts no doubt. And three, it turns that aggravating little light out on the dash when you "click it".

 

I've had seatbelts in every car since my first car back in 1959. Only "used" them once. I lived to tell about the crash. I would have been badly injured without them for sure. I still hit the steering wheel hard enough to bend it. The belts were mounted on a 1/4 x 4 x 18 inch plate under the floor. The floor buckeled almost a foot from the driveshaft tunnel to the rocker panel.

I buckle up every trip no matter how short as do my passengers.

 

Buckled up before it was fashionable. In Washington State, as in others, seat belt usage is MANDATORY and you will be fined. It's an easy $101.00 to be collected if you're caught. Stat's wise, they say we're amongst the highest percentage in usage. Inconvenient? No, I have it adjusted correctly for my "imposing" figure. It gets buckled on before the engine fires up. And yes, all passengers get the dirty look from the old codger behind the wheel. There's more ways to kill yourself than ways to prevent them. I'm sure everyone who doesn't buckle has heard enough preaching, so I think I'll head over to the DTR Breakroom to see if Mad Hat has done his duty.

~Dave

 

i lived on a farm, so never in the pastures or back county roads or in town, but on the highway, etc. here in the Marine Corps, they make you and everyone in the car. theres just something that sits wrong with me when they make it just another money getter when you dont wear it. in beaumont, tx, different times each year, they target seatbelt/ or the lack of wearing them, and they catch bundles of people. i know we could beat this to death about other fines the state or government puts on us, but its your own life. were outlawing cell phones, smoking in bars, whats next, you cant dip in your truck, cant chew gum, or you only have one hand on the wheel. when are they gonna stop. i should stop before so it doesnt get sent to the political fourms. the ole ex wife used to get on my case about it, and i do wear it more often than not now though. what was funny though, i have heard some senior marines while in iraq saying to "put on your ******* seatbelts while in the hummers give me a break. with all your "stuff" on, they wont fit, thats if they even work

 

Always, as does any passenger in my vehicle.

 

I've always worn one. Got use to wearing them from back when I was dragracing all the time before seatbelt laws were in place and now I feel nekid without it. However I do disagree with seatbelt laws, helmet laws and city laws forbidding the owner of an establishment to allow smoking in his establishment. etc....

 

Thanks to the 3rd gen seat belt warning bell I always wear mine now. I once tried to remove the warning but after step 2,370 I gave up. Man that little warning beep gets anoying.

 

I'm required to wear mine by the Air Force. I've been in almost a decade and it's become second nature. My two little ones get strapped in EVERY time we get in. I'm also required to wear a helmet, gloves, eye protection, long sleeves, pants, and boots when riding a motorcycle. If I don't wear that stuff or put on my seat belt and I get killed in an accident my life insurance doesn't pay out. I do it for my family.