New to the Forum

I also will give you a warm welcome to PriusChat and Prius-dom! But at the risk of taking this further off-topic, I feel compelled to respond to this:

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Silver Surfer @ Aug 4 2007, 09:28 PM) [snapback]490703[/snapback]</div>

As a paramedic and prehospital trauma care instructor who has been involved in EMS for 34 years, I gotta say .... you're dead wrong. Yes, restraints may rarely cost lives. I saw that in one instance many years ago. I've seen dozens, maybe hundreds of instances where they have saved lives.

Though my own experience and observations stand in apparent contrast to yours, our experience and observations are anecdotal and limited. Where are your data to demonstrate these odds you cite? Whether you're more likely to survive an ejection than a fire is debatable, but you should know that post-crash fires are extremely uncommon. And when they happen, the occupant likely can escape more easily if he hasn't suffered serious injury from being tossed around inside the car during the impact. Ejections are common -- with unrestrained occupants. They are rare when restraints are used. Research and data are what count, and they clearly demonstrate the effectiveness of restraints.

I respect your opinion, your choice not to wear restraints, and your preference for ejection over burns. But please don't use your professional position to mislead others by stating your opinion as fact.

 

A warm welcome from another newbie!

Happy Driving!
Connie

 

Just to add, also anecdotedly speaking, I can think of at least 4 instances where I read in the paper that the person who died in car accident DID NOT have their seat belt on. The other occupants survived, and some even walked away with minor scratches. It breaks one's heart to read those stories. Now, true, devils advocate -- the same occupant may have died anyway if they did have seat belt on (unlikely though, since the cause of death appeared to be their ejection from car).

a. Several years ago... van driving across San Mateo bridge (this is Bay Area San Francisco) with who knows how many occupants. Anyway, van swerves for some reason and two children age 3 and 4 (or maybe 4 and 5) are ejected from the van through the window. A bystander in another car jumps in water and manages to save one of the children. The other one drowned -- don't recall if they even found body. Other child died despite the uncle (in van) jumping in right after child ejected in water and there may even had been other bystanders who jumped in. Makes me sick that it would be the children who got ejected but it was noted in the paper that they were NOT properly restrained.

b. Several months ago -- also in Bay Area (East Bay), star high school basketball player died, again ejected from car. Apparently, this was over winter break, his buddies from neighboring town drive to pick him up for a midnight snack. The buddies sitting in front seat had seat belt on (probably because they came on the freeway) and he got in back seat. They were only going just down the road, not too far. Anyway, don't recall how but the car crashed front first into a barrier wall. Car front end totaled. The two front seat occupants get of car on own accord, with scratches and in a daze, shocked, because they see their buddy in the back seat has been ejected from the car. I think the boy died at hospital or maybe at the scene. Regardless, it was amazing the two in front seat got out on own accord when you look at the damage (I think it was actually a Toyota too!).

c. Lastly.. need we think about his honor, the governor of NJ? Did he have egg on his face or what. He was only occupant in seat that did not have a seat belt on and sustained multiple injuries.. those in back seat.. hmm, when to hospital and released same day!

d. Oh one more... one wonders if Princess Diana and her companion would have survived if they did have a seat belt on. Maybe they would have still be injured, but not to the extent they were. The guy in the front seat had seat belt on and managed to survive.

But the point re not knowing how to release seat belt after an accident... point well taken but seems the odds are in favor of wearing a restraint. To each his own. (In fact, in airplane crash studies, that is one of the conundrums... seat belts help restrain and save lives on impact. But then, in the confusion, people forget how to release seat belt. That's why, as elementary as it may seem when flight attendants go through the routine of how to fasten and RELEASE seat belts, there is a reason).






<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(JimboK @ Aug 7 2007, 05:19 AM) [snapback]491777[/snapback]</div>

 

hey maggie & Jim, welcome to PC! Enjoy your Touring! I know I do! They are tons of fun!

 

Welcome to PriusChat! I suppose I'm an "oldster" now, since so many members are new in 2007. If you want to turn off your seatbelt beeper, that is certainly your choice (and anyone's). I trust you find it annoying, but just please really wear your seatbelt. I turned off my reverse beeper as soon as I learned how and can understand your concerns regarding the beeping. My 10 yr old won't let me drive without her seatbelt (or mine), so I have a built-in "beep" that kicks in before 7 MPH. I think the newer models have a beep for the passenger seat, which my briefcase (and my mini-dachshund routinely exceed).

I am an RN with a masters' degree, and my job consists of case-managing Trauma patients. Not only do I do acute case management, but I also look at follow-up and ongoing complications and issues from an epidemiology POV. 70% of my patients are motor vehicle crash victims (another 20% fall from roofs and ladders, BTW). Trust me, you really don't want to be ejected in a car crash. Ejected occupants have a MUCH higher incidence of severe brain trauma, spinal cord injury, and chest injuries including aortic injuries (most of which are fatal on scene). The chances of your car catching fire in a crash that you can't escape because of a seatbelt are sooooooo slim. Even if there is a fire in a crash, most occupants escape fire, but head and spinal cord injuries are difficult to overcome.

In the meantime, if you insist on driving without a SB, please do us all a favor and take out good disability and longterm care insurance. Quadriplegia and severe traumatic brain injury are really not pretty things to live with longterm for the most part.

Take care and welcome to PriusChat.
Sonya