driving with/without seat belts... do you?

[BobA]

I was reading another thread and the seatbelt subject came up... a member said that he used his seat belt until the law was passed to wear it.. now doesn't...

I have been in a couple of wrecks.. one as a kid when my friend and I were playing hide and seek using my moms MG... we were not belted in and flipped the car... I believe had we had the belts on we wouldn't be here today.. we some how stayed in the car and only came out with broken bones... and a great story of the events of the evening before and after the wreck... my other was with a Corvair and a wet bridge... I now only drive cars with the motor in front... I made any Nascar spin out look like childs play.. just me and an empty 4 lane bridge (thank God).. but I did wear a belt and only needed a few stitches over an eye.. the Corvair didn't fair as well...

I have used seat belts from then on... my '51 Ford pickup has belts and I don't start it without belting... that said I have a friend who would not be caught in a car using seat belts...unless it's his '32 Ford roadster that he races at Bonneville and holds a world speed record with at 207 mph.. this I don't understand...

Do you wear a seat belt?

[Sufferin' Prius Envy]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(BobA\";p=\"52724)</div>

... a member said that he used his seat belt until the law was passed to wear it.. now doesn't...[/b]

My thoughts on someone not wearing their seatbelt have slowly slid off into the ambivalent category. I’ve come to accept the fact that it’s just Darwin cleaning out the gene pool. ukeright:

I figure I need all the help I can get . . . that’s why I didn’t go cheap - I bought the Prius AM “safety model.”
Every once in a while I’ll go into a mini-panic mode and check to see that I didn't forget to fasten my seat belt.

[Wolfman]

I always wear the seat belt. I've been in two major collisions, and the belt saved my life in both.

First was with a friend of mine, and myself on a road trip. I fell asleep at the wheel, (young and dumb at the time), and we went off road, and airborne. The car hit the ground on the front passenger corner. I got bumps and bruises, and my friend, who was on the passenger side, a broken ankle. The car, a 1986 Hyundai Excel, was totalled.

Second collision was a woman making a left turn to enter the highway. She pulled into oncoming traffic without looking, in a brand spanking new Jeep Grand Cherokee with the temporary paper plate still in the back window. I was in a Mitsubishi delivery van, the kind where you sit on the engine. She hit me right on the driver side front corner - totalling the van. Besides one bump on the head, I crawled out of what was left of the van unhurt.

Despite being stunned from the hit, I still couldn't help but laugh when her husband showed up - in another brand spanking new, identical Jeep Grand Cherokee with the temporary tag still in the back window. Needless to say, dude wasn't happy.

[richard schumacher]

Driving in traffic without using a seatbelt is like having sex with strangers without using a condom. The only safe alternative is to just say "no".

[flareak]

I've heard that some cars use the seatbelt to measure the force exerted on the person so it knows where to position the airbag when it deploys. I've been in the back seat of an accident before without a seatbelt... came out with blood running out both nostrils

[BobA]

I'm only asking this, I guess because the seat belt law is being pushed in Colorado... and seems to be getting more press than deserved...

I think (my own views) it's more like riding a motorcycle without a helmet.. what do you call those folks? ORGAN DONERS.. I kind of like Richard's thinking as well... I understand "It's Our Right"... but it isn't if my insurance goes up..

I was a truck driver and was pulled into a DOT surprise stop... the DOT guys were shocked to find me wearing a seat belt (not law at that time).. I told them I was affraid of falling out..


Bob Andersen

[daniel]

I've been accused of using strong language before, but I'll do it again here: anyone who does not wear a seat belt is an idiot. There are rare accidents in which a seat belt does more harm than good, but it's just statistics: You are much much much more likely to be killed or injured without a seat belt than with one.

I won't repeat the story in detail (told elsewhere) but I have a friend with whom I cannot ride: he refuses to wear a seat belt, and I won't start the car until all my passengers are belted in.

[daniel]

Ha, ha. 14 yes and zero no. Smart bunch here on Prius Chat.

P.S. I also bought the "AM" pkg because I wanted all the safety features.

[BobA]

[quote]Ha, ha. 14 yes and zero no. Smart bunch here on Prius Chat.[quote]

Maybe... maybe NOT.. 124 have looked... :cry:

[Charles Suitt]

:idea: It's difficult for me to imagine driving or riding WITHOUT seat/shoulder belts on. Being a light aircraft pilot and a driver who has used seat belts for *MANY* years, I would feel very insecure without them. I recall some of the nonsensical comments when auto seat belts first became widely available, like "But I'd be strapped in and burn to death if the car caught fire!" - "What if I ran into a lake and drowned because I couldn't get out?" - etc. etc. etc. ad nauseum. The much greater probability is being tossed around and battered in a collision.

Besides all that, in my beloved TEXAS It's the LAW.!! So, buckle up and live, y'all.