Uh, was in the Oregon Outback -- in my Subaru Outback -- when I hit a long, long stretch of flat open two-lane highway. Tried to set my cruise control at a comfortable 57 MPH and nothing doing. It does not work. Hmm. Well, I ignored it and listened to Trampled by Turtles on the box for 20 minutes or so -- and came around a slight curve and saw a county sheriff's car half-hidden, apparently checking for speed compliance. No problem there, I am not one to go much more than three or five mph over. Drives people behind me crazy. But I have been in one major accident, don't want another. ANYWAY == decided to see if I could get cruise control set. Not working. THEN I noticed my seatbelt was not on. Snapped it on, amazingly, cruise control worked. Seems odd they are tied together. Glad the deputy did not notice. I disabled my seatbelt chime long ago, It drives myself and passengers crazy when we plow down dirt tracks at 5-10 mph and continually have to stop and move brush or rocks out of the way. Even my driveway, which is about 500 yards, can be a pain -- esp after a wind or snow storm. I am good about getting the belt back on. Once I hit a real road, I shift out of Subaru X-Mode, snap on the belt and start real driving --= I can only recall one other time I have forgotten the belt and I noticed that within a half-mile. But, again. Am just puzzled they tied belts and cruise control together somehow. And for some reason, this just came to me; maybe because I have been in Eastern Oregon Cowboy Country, If I had forgotten the belt and had a fatal accident, they could have said "well, she died with her boots on and her belt off -- but she was fully vaccinated ." kris
I'm COVID years old, so I'm not surprised in the least. It's part of our government's non-stop efforts BOTH to thwart the beneficial effects of Darwinism and hire mean, small minded people to enforce mattress-tag laws. The LEO you passed NO DOUBT 'noticed' that you were not wearing a belt but in my experience they are neither mean nor unintelligent for the most part. I'm presuming that as a Subie owner you used the 'click method' for disabling the chime, and it does do just that. I do not mean to put you across the breakers with the NANNY squad, but you may want to consider a metal buckle stopper. The best of these will allow normal use of the seatbelt WHEN YOU WANT TO USE IT, and also allow for not using it when you don't. They're about $20 I've actually been thinking about getting one for my daily driver but have not pulled the trigger yet. I use my seatbelt nearly 100% of the time but there are times (checking mail, opening my gate, etc....) that I would love to not be bothered with it. Good Luck.
It's part of why Subaru gets a good safety rep, and generally lower insurance rates from that. With the rise of hands free "Level 2" ADAS, interlocking the seatbelt with its use wouldn't be a bad idea as additional counter to improper use of the ADAS.
