:confused: If a law came in saying its up to you if you wear a seat belt or not would or wouldn't you wear one?

I would wear one :thumbsup:

I'd always wear one, i think it'd be stupid to risk your life by not doing so.

What really gets on my nerves is when you see an estate car on the motorway and the parents are buckled in tight but the kids are roaming around beltless in the back, have these people no sense?!

Wilf

I would wear one its force of habit putting it on as you get in to the car. :D

Originally posted by BrainThrust
What really gets on my nerves is when you see an estate car on the motorway and the parents are buckled in tight but the kids are roaming around beltless in the back, have these people no sense?!


The number of times I've seen that on the roads of Sheffield...it makes my blood run cold every time.

If a child was to go through the windscreen at 30 mph, in the event of a crash or sudden stop, there wouldn't be much left of their pretty little face :(

It'd depend on the journey I think.

A friend of my parents was in quite a serious car incident years ago. He wasn't wearing his seatbelt... however, the police said that if he was wearing his seatbelt, he could have been killed! (His steering wheel was pushed back into his seat, but the driver's door had been pushed open and he'd fallen out.

Makes you think.

Mine's beeps at me if I don't put the belt on. Along with my own safety, I'd surely wear it to stop that annoying noise!

Yep i do always wear mine, think it is stupid to not do so.
Though i do have a problem at the minute of i have acquired a new car and the belt is not long enough for me to lean forward to see very well. Does anyone have any ideas as to where would be a good place to get an extension for it. I have asked around and i am not getting very far. Any help appreciated. Thanks.
(And no i didn't buy the car, as if i would be daft enough to buy it if it was not right)

Friend of mine was a cop in Canada and she gave me the illustrated lecture... :o

I'll never forget those pics, nor the physics of trying to stop your combined mass x velocity using just your arms...

Clunk, click, ever trip... or it'll be your last...

I'd definitely wear a seatbelt. Putting one on takes all of half a second. It really isn't worth risking it for the sake of half a second every time you get in the car. On the subject of irresponsible parents, I saw a toddler but the other day walking about on the back seat of a car whilst its (presumably) parents were in the front, driving. Disgusting.

The problem is though when you spend a long time in a vehicle like I used to - 6+ hours per day in a Transit van the seatbelt gets uncomfortable and I mean really uncomfortable. It gets to the point where you have to wedge stuff in it give you a little slack.

Originally posted by fnkysknky
The problem is though when you spend a long time in a vehicle like I used to - 6+ hours per day in a Transit van the seatbelt gets uncomfortable and I mean really uncomfortable. It gets to the point where you have to wedge stuff in it give you a little slack.


I've travelled in, and driven, cars for that length of time and more before, and at no point did I so much as even NOTICE that the seatbelt was there. Getting that bit of "slack" might just one day cost you your life.

Don't forget the effect of rear-seat passengers not wearing belts and crushing front seat occupants... not nice. You might wanna give them the choice of not wearing a belt but the front-seat passenger about to be killed by them certainly wouldnt want them making that choice... would you ? Sometimes a little freedom is a bad thing.

Originally posted by t020
I've travelled in, and driven, cars for that length of time and more before, and at no point did I so much as even NOTICE that the seatbelt was there. Getting that bit of "slack" might just one day cost you your life.

Try driving 2000+ miles every week in a Transit van and then let me hear you say it doesn't annoy the hell outta you. Giving the belt an inch or two of slack by wedging a bit of plastic in that will pop out if anything was to happen anyway is very unlikely to cost me my life - being that they actually sell devices that do exactly the same thing.

Originally posted by Jon
:confused: If a law came in saying its up to you if you wear a seat belt or not would or wouldn't you wear one?

I would wear one :thumbsup:

Before January the 31st 1981 (or was it 1982?) that was the law, and hardly anyone wore one.

Yes, definitely. The two times I've been in serious crashes I was saved by my belt.

In the worst one the driver died - reason? His seatbelt failed to lock properly, his head went out of the side window and hit the road as the car rolled.

I don't think I'd feel properly dressed not wearing a seatbelt now.

Originally posted by rtapper
Don't forget the effect of rear-seat passengers not wearing belts and crushing front seat occupants... not nice.

Yep agree anyone in my car wears a belt, even if they don't like it.
And why are people always amazed when i get in a taxi, (or other car) and always put on my seat belt it should be automatic action.

Same here, I always wear one and get strange looks when I get in a taxi or black cab and put one on. Even when I get a coach somewhere I wear one and I'm about the only person apart from the driver that does! I was in a crash a couple of years ago as a passenger in the back and I'm glad I was wearing one. It also meant I didn't hit the person in front of me when I jolted forward. When I get in a car and sit in the front I will not let someone behind me sit there unless they are wearing one. I have got into arguments with people on this one before, I've asked someone to buckle up and they have said no, and said it's up to them if they want to fly out the front. I've pointed out that I want them to wear it because it's me who will get crushed and they didn't seem to believe me. I refused to go anywhere until they did the belt up. I made a real fuss, but rightly so I feel.

A friend of mine was in a crash a few years ago and was in the back not wearing a belt, when they had a head on collision with a drunk idiot. They saw the car coming and my friend put his arm up to protect him from hitting his head on the seat in front. He broke his wrist and his jaw on each other in the impact and pulled all his skin away from his jaw bone so his face was detached. He's ok now. Lesson to be learned there. Luckily he didn't crush the person in front. It wasn't his fault though as this happened in another country where there is still not a law for seat belts so there wasn't even any belts in the back of the car!

I read (dont know how true it is) that most Americans still think it's better to be thrown from the car in an accident than to be strapped inside. And apparently they also think that if you've got an airbag, you dont need the seatbelt.

So now, the US are bringing in new safety regulations that will mean any new car has to be designed to protect un-belted occupants.

How stupid is that? Wear your belt, if you dont want to wear it, then be prepared to face the consequences.

We already have a perfectly suitable device to protect un-belted occupants: the seatbelt.

I've experienced the lack of seatbelt usage in the US a few times, and it unnerves me quite a lot.
Idiots.

One thing I can't understand is the logic of probabilities-the more you drive the more likely you are to be in a crash! So why does the law say that taxi drivers,bus drivers,lorry drivers and certain van drivers do not need to wear seat belts. Myself if I was one of those I would definetly wear a belt,as I would be in a high risk situation !

Originally posted by jackthedog
I read (dont know how true it is) that most Americans still think it's better to be thrown from the car in an accident than to be strapped inside.
I always think this one is quite funny. I've heard this from people in the past - "oh, I'd rather be thrown clear of the accident...".

Errrr...thrown clear onto what exactly? A nice fluffy mattress or something? :loopy:

Do people really think that hitting tarmac at 50mph is going to let them walk away, not to mention all the sharp bits of metal, etc that they are probably going to hit on the way? I remember crashing a motorbike wearing work clothes once - I was only going about 30mph but landed on my knee which instantly lost all it's flesh.

Thrown clear! These people who think that are having a laugh!

My brother was in a coach coming back from France and he felt a nasty bump and the coach came to a screetching halt.

There had been a car crash up a head, the passenger in one car, not wearing a belt and been thrown from the car and the bump my brother felt was his head being crushed by the wheels of the coach!

Apologies if that put anyone of their dinner.

Here is a report from Kentucky; the author of the news article is trying to explain to fellow yanks that being thrown out the window is not good when you then get killed by your own car which is of course following you; 2 deaths in the same week that could have been prevented are highlighted in the article; and there are some nasty facts and figures in general.

http://www.thenewsenterprise.com/articles/2004/01/30/news/news1.txt

Let's hope that the message spreads to all in vehicles of whatever description :P

Originally posted by feederfil
One thing I can't understand is the logic of probabilities-the more you drive the more likely you are to be in a crash! So why does the law say that taxi drivers,bus drivers,lorry drivers and certain van drivers do not need to wear seat belts. Myself if I was one of those I would definetly wear a belt,as I would be in a high risk situation !

I can understand your logic, but the law allows drivers who are carrying fare paying passengers not to wear a seatbelt so that they can defend themselves/escape from attack by passengers. (you'd be surprised how often it happens...esp when people are drunk.

Van drivers are only exempt when in a delivery van making local deliveries. I used to do multi-drop and would regularly have in excess of 200 drops a day. Imagine how much time it would take to fasten/un-fasten your seatbelt when driving from no 2 any street to number 37.

Having said that, I had my life saved by a seat belt in a van.

but.... taxi drivers are only exempt from wearing a seat belt if they have a fare. If they don't have one they have to wear the belt. Now how often do you see that?

Originally posted by Jon
:confused: If a law came in saying its up to you if you wear a seat belt or not would or wouldn't you wear one?

I would wear one :thumbsup:

I have driven most of my life without a seat belt, It was in the eighties when I started teaching that I had to wear one, to comply with the law and to set an example to the pupils and now I put it on automatically.:loopy: :thumbsup: :bigsmile:

Originally posted by Flying Duck
I can understand your logic, but the law allows drivers who are carrying fare paying passengers not to wear a seatbelt so that they can defend themselves/escape from attack by passengers. (you'd be surprised how often it happens...esp when people are drunk.

Van drivers are only exempt when in a delivery van making local deliveries. I used to do multi-drop and would regularly have in excess of 200 drops a day. Imagine how much time it would take to fasten/un-fasten your seatbelt when driving from no 2 any street to number 37.

Having said that, I had my life saved by a seat belt in a van.

Can understand multi drop (if close drops not 10+ min drive) and taxi's etc with risky passengers.

But most black cabs the driver is protected from the passenger, so why are these exempt??

And also bus coach drivers when running light, why exempt??

Also long distance lorry drivers why exempt??

Just some inconsistencies to the logic of need protection from passengers and getting in out of van, when either there are no passengers or sizable distance from drops.

Jubby

Originally posted by Sam Miguel
I don't think I'd feel properly dressed not wearing a seatbelt now.
I was thinking the same thing. I feel naked without one on.

I remember my mum and dad's first car, a mini, which didn't have seatbelts. This was back in the 60s when it wasn't the law to have them. Anyway, even now in my 40s my mum automatically puts her arm across my waist as if to hold me back!! Like it would prevent me from being thrown through the windscreen in an accident. I laugh when she does it but I also remember when Jimmy Saville came on TV with advert .. "clunk click, every trip" and we saw a peach being smashed by a hammer like what happens to your head when you hit glass at high speed. That was it, mum and dad got a new car with seatbelts. But she still puts her arm across my front. Ahhhhhh momma! :rolleyes:

Here in Florida the police have a saying " Click it, Or Ticket"

Originally posted by Flying Duck
I used to do multi-drop and would regularly have in excess of 200 drops a day. Imagine how much time it would take to fasten/un-fasten your seatbelt when driving from no 2 any street to number 37.

Just a little more time than it would take to have your head stoved in by the windscreen.