[narlus]

the text message thread spawned this...i'm often amazed at the amount of stories i see about people getting thrown from a car/truck after an accident. it's not like seat-belt technology is new, and many states require it.

i do it as a matter of course; it feels strange w/o a seat belt on.

 

[Echo]

I always do. Just habit. Couple of reasons:

I've been ejected from a vehicle before in an accident. Luckily I was not killed. But that was the last time I didn't wear a seatbelt.

I've been in a rollover accident. It would have been ugly if I hadn't been wearing a seatbelt.

 

[I Are Baboon]

I just don't feel right without it strapped across my chest....it feels very uncomfortable.

 

[TreeSaw]

I always do. Just habit.

 

[Lex]

the text message thread spawned this...i'm often amazed at the amount of stories i see about people getting thrown from a car/truck after an accident. it's not like seat-belt technology is new, and many states require it.

i do it as a matter of course; it feels strange w/o a seat belt on.

I always wear mine. I feel strange behind the wheel without it.

I heard a story recently from a cop, where the driver involved in an accident was thrown into the backseat rather than from the car. It ended up saving his life because the driver's seatinf area was non-existant after the crash.

 

[Andy_B]

Always... If i dont i feel like I'm going to slip off the seat...

 

[narlus]

I heard a story recently from a cop, where the driver involved in an accident was thrown into the backseat rather than from the car. It ended up saving his life because the driver's seatinf area was non-existant after the crash.

i'd say that is definitely not statistically the norm though...most times people get tossed into large, inanimate objects like trees, guardrails, or just the ground itself.

i'd rather have safety engineers designing for crash minimization, knowing i'll be restrained in the cockpit, rather than rolling the dice.

 

[stinkyboy]

Only because it's the law. I don't need some cop stopping me, and wondering what the smell coming from my trunk is...

 

[I Are Baboon]

i'd say that is definitely not statistically the norm though...most times people get tossed into large, inanimate objects like trees, guardrails, or just the ground itself.

or the windshield, like a friend of mine in high school. Fortunately for him though, the concrete road broke his fall.

 

[jacksonpt]

Always, end of story. And I make people wear them if they are passengers in my vehicle.

 

[Lex]

i'd say that is definitely not statistically the norm though...most times people get tossed into large, inanimate objects like trees, guardrails, or just the ground itself.

i'd rather have safety engineers designing for crash minimization, knowing i'll be restrained in the cockpit, rather than rolling the dice.

Absolutely.

 

[McGRP01]

I just don't feel right without it strapped across my chest....it feels very uncomfortable.

 

[blt2ride]

I always wear my seat belt. I wouldn't feel right driving without it on; it would be like doing DH runs without a helmet. Not to mention what would happen to you if your airbag deployed, and you weren't wearing your seat belt...

 

[binary visions]

Yep, always wear it. I got out of the habit for a while when I was doing roofing because I was constantly in and out of the trucks, backing them up, driving across lawns, etc., but I'm making a conscious effort to make it automatic again.

 

[-dustin]

yes.

and i don't like it when my passengers don't.

 

[Brian HCM#1]

I never wore one until it became mandatory.

 

[Cooter Brown]

I wear mine, but I do think that mandatory seatbelt laws are lifestyle control laws. They are also a condition of my employment, if I get hurt in an auto accident without it on, the company will not pay for the medical bills.

 

[hooples3]

someone told me once wearing a seatbelt wont kill you.... but not wearing one just might
very simple wear it

 

[SkaredShtles]

I wear mine, but I do think that mandatory seatbelt laws are lifestyle control laws.

Would you like to explain this?

How is not wearing a seatbelt part of your "lifestyle"?

 

[narlus]

I wear mine, but I do think that mandatory seatbelt laws are lifestyle control laws.

what about mandatory car seats for infants/children?

 

[kinghami3]

Always, and no one rides in my car without one, and having had my life saved by one, that will always be the case, unless there are no extras, but then I feel guilty.

 

[Cooter Brown]

Would you like to explain this?

How is not wearing a seatbelt part of your "lifestyle"?

Sure, by making seatbelts mandatory, they are encroaching on the choice I should be able to make as a free, educated american whether or not I want to wear it or not. And also being able to make a traffic stop for that reason is just another way to criminalize normal citizens who don't want to wear them. I don't see the gov't saying it is illegal to smoke cigarettes. Yet the final outcome of smoking is the same as a fatal car wreck. But they let the general public make that choice for themselves, and a lot of folks who make the choice to smoke aren't even educated enough to know what it will do to them in the end.

 

[Cooter Brown]

what about mandatory car seats for infants/children?

I do agree with those laws. Children are not old enough to make the decision on their own and choose correctly.

 

[douglas]

I was in a bad crash, and I dont see how I would have lived.....IF I had a seatbelt on

 

[SkaredShtles]

Sure, by making seatbelts mandatory, they are encroaching on the choice I should be able to make as a free, educated american whether or not I want to wear it or not. And also being able to make a traffic stop for that reason is just another way to criminalize normal citizens who don't want to wear them. I don't see the gov't saying it is illegal to smoke cigarettes. Yet the final outcome of smoking is the same as a fatal car wreck. But they let the general public make that choice for themselves, and a lot of folks who make the choice to smoke aren't even educated enough to know what it will do to them in the end.

Yeah, but smoking makes you look cool. I still fail to see how wearing or not wearing a seatbelt is a "lifestyle" choice.

Besides - what educated American wouldn't wear a seatbelt? Seems to me only dimwits wouldn't............

 

[I Are Baboon]

I think narlus's use of the public poll option is keeping the "no" voters from voting.

There is no way a random sample of 35 drivers would return 35 yes votes.

 

[narlus]

I think narlus's use of the public poll option is keeping the "no" voters from voting.

shhsssshhh..... neaky:

 

[SkaredShtles]

I think narlus's use of the public poll option is keeping the "no" voters from voting.

There is no way a random sample of 35 drivers would return 35 yes votes.

Naw - I think it's just an indication that RM members are a bit above the curve.

 

[I Are Baboon]

Naw - I think it's just an indication that RM members are a bit above the curve.

No, that can't be it.

 

[narlus]

I was in a bad crash, and I dont see how I would have lived.....IF I had a seatbelt on

see my post re: statistics. you were lucky.

btw, have you voted?

 

[SkaredShtles]

No, that can't be it.

Yeah, you're probably right.

 

[DRB]

Naw - I think it's just an indication that RM members are a bit above the curve.

That's a pretty pathetic curve.

 

[johnbryanpeters]

Always.

 

[SkaredShtles]

That's a pretty pathetic curve.

For the population as a whole? I'd agree.

 

[SkaredShtles]

I was in a bad crash, and I dont see how I would have lived.....IF I had a seatbelt on

Sure. There are probably thousands of anecdotes where people would've been *more* injured if they'd been wearing seatbelts.

The statistics are deathly clear, though.

 

[SK6]

what about mandatory car seats for infants/children?

What about those damn speed limit laws?....

 

[I Are Baboon]

Somebody needs to vote NO and defend their stance (and actually mean it) to make this thread more interesting.

 

[SkaredShtles]

What about those damn speed limit laws?....

I thought those were only recommendations on the Interstates?

 

[binary visions]

I was in a bad crash, and I dont see how I would have lived.....IF I had a seatbelt on

I figure seatbelts, and driving in general, is a gamble. There are things you can do to increase your chances of being in the "survival" category.

Most car wrecks are safer with your seatbelt on. Some are more dangerous. But since you cannot determine what kind of wreck you might be in, wearing your seatbelt is statistically safer than not wearing it.

Since I'm taking a chance either way, I think I'll go with the good odds.

 

[SilentJ]

I never used to when hauling grain back on the farm as our grain trucks had none. I also never wore it when I was trucking over any frozen lakes as your bail out time had to be faster than your truck sinking time if you happened to break through. There are times when shuttling that I don't wear it on the steep bumpy roads...with that exception, I always wear it. I usually put it on before starting my truck..