That one always blows my mind. I always wear a seat belt, but the helmet thing, I mean, that's ridiculous. I think the argument for the seat belts is that the more people that get injured as a result of not wearing seat belts the higher the costs of insurance go. Maybe it's a state by state thing in order to bring rates down, I have no idea. I don't see it as an infringement, maybe because I wear it and I know I should be wearing it. I could never die in peace knowing that I was fatally injured in an accident which I clearly would have survived had I been wearing my belt. I owe it to my wife and kids. I really don't give a rats what it feels like, it's not really about me as much as it is about them. Truthfully, it doesn't bother me to wear it anyway. What I hate more than anything are these inbreeds who drive around with their little children hopping all around the middle of the car while mommy swerves in and out of traffic. Yes, mommy. Women drivers really deserve their fair share of criticism. The women around here can't drive to save their lives. So many of them tailgate.
Don't forget though, that your free will "will" cause you more injury (statistically) and thus, the system, more $$$$.
I think the seat belt law is a major infringment on my personal life. The government needs to back off. Motorcycle helmets and/or glasses.... yes. I can understand where I'm putting OTHERS at risk if a bug were to fly in my eyes or something. I agree with those laws. But NOT seatbelts. With that said.... I do wear mine 100% of the time when I'm traveling out of town, but rarely wear it in my "2 block trips" to and from work everyday. Once again... I think George Carlin said it best... People drive like idiots now-a-days. We need to get rid of airbags and all other safety features in cars. No more plastic dashes, soft steering wheels, cushiony bumpers... etc... Make the steering wheel out of steel, and line the dash and horn bar with daggers pointing right at your head. You think people would drive more carefully then? :laugh:
Sounds like an interesting thought. "I'll kill who I want, when I want, whenever I want, I choose what laws to obey!"ou: :laugh: p I think it's more because they don't want to be the ones spreading that blood soaker stuff all over the highway after you flew 90 feet and splattered your head in 23 different places. :Brow: You've developed an ignorance to it after seeing so many. Show the same accident with and without seatbelts to a group of kids and it'll be alot different.
You do what you want...I'll do what I want. We make unsafe choices every day that we're on this earth. I just happen to be honest about mine. Getting into an 8-second race car and lifting the front wheels off the ground isn't really a smart choice...It happens to be MY choice. All kinds of bad stuff could happen. I'm betting it won't. Same thing with the rest of my choices. I'm always getting on the highway to go somewhere. Safety-wise, that isn't a smart choice, but it's the only way to get where you want to go. I'll take the risk. You can stay home and be as safe as you want. You didn't quote the most important part of my post: stagetwo65 said: "Any of you guys can present your arguments for or against seatbelt laws and, as much as I like you, I'm not changing one single thing about the way I operate beacause of anything I read here. Sorry.
Re: Seat Belts I'm with you John, if your in my car you buckle up or get out. I don't even want to know how many of my insurance dollars pay for medical bills for some knucklehead who wouldn't buckle up. I think the seatbelt fine should be around $1000 a shot, kinda mistake you only make once.
But your wearing a seatbelt aren't you? :laugh: And I'll gladly mourn you when your head has rolled down the highway at 70mph. :TU:
I try to never let him see me not wear my belt. When he does notice it, I put it on and say thanks for reminding me. That's not playing tough! I don't want him to not wear a belt, but I just never did it and hate to wear the thing. It restricts me for some reason. I am sure I could get in the habit of wearing it, but I could get in the habit of doing many things that will improve my life and never do.
Seatbelts are worn at all times by the whole family. Sorry kids......no helmet means no bikes or boards or in-lines either. Yes, it's been law here for many years. Statistically proven they do indeed save lives. They are only a part of the entire safety system in a newer car, we all buy into those. ABS brakes, quicker steering, airbags front & side, crumple zones outside the caged shell...it's endless. Last three trucks I've had all have 4 wheel discs & ABS. These are work trucks, not top end luxo models. We also have daytime running lights mandatory here in Canada. Cannot buy a new car/truck without it. You can see a car coming for miles. High beams on a reduced voltage, I believe. Some cars use the marker lights. I wear a hardhat on job sites too. Not many times it was ever really needed, but you never know! Young fellow has a stunt bike...the one with the pegs on the axles. Helmet saved his cookies a few times now.
It is just the governments way of protecting you from your self. I my self wear a seat belt all the time, but if you do not want to wear one that is fine with me ,I CAN'T stand the government one of these days they will be telling you what to drive,what house to live in,how much money you can keep etc. Oh here in Pa. you do not need to wear a cycle helmet neither,but be sure to buckle up.One other thing have you noticed how many police officers wear them?
Should some on this board be stopped from racing their cars because they have a higher likelihood of getting injured at a track? Should motorcycle riders be stopped riding their bikes because I might not see one when I pull out of a side road? You apparantely drive convertibles, and they are much more dangerous than my hardtop. You really need belts to hold you in your car without a top. Should I have to pay for your emergency room bill when you roll over? This is my approach to the whole thing. Life cannot be perfect, and we have to foot the bills for others in the US. Even stubborn people like myself.
Seat belt use saves lives, plain and simple. This has been discussed and debated since mandatory usage laws came into force. The facts do not lie, insurance companies may have had some say in these laws, but this is one of the few times that governments have truly acted in the publics best interest. What some of the thicker skulls seem to believe is that they can either prevent there cranium from meeting, first the windshield, then pavement, bridge abutment, or some other fixed object, when they do crash into something or someone. Then there are those who don't wear seat belts because: 1 - I only drive 2 blocks at a time. 2 - I only drive close to home, and I know every crack in every road, so I'm safe. 3 - I'm in and out of my vehicle 25-50 times per day, and it takes me 5 seconds to buckle my belt each time. 4 - I don't like to be told by government what to do. 5 - I might land in a lake and drown. 6 - My car might catch on fire and I'll burn to death. 7 - They ruin my clothes/cause wrinkles in my clothes. 8 - I can use my arm strength to keep me secure in my vehicle. and on and on and on and on and on. Now to debunk the above: 1 & 2 - driving short distances or close to home has never exempted anyone from having crashes, in fact you are more likely to have a serious crash within 25 miles of your home. This is due to complacency about your surroundings, like knowing every twist and turn without thinking about it. 3 - It also only takes 5 or less seconds to realize that you are about to have a crash, and by that time, it's too late to buckle up! 4 - As mentioned above, this is one time governments got it right. 5 & 6 - Statistically, the chances of either happening are less than 1/2 of 1% or 1 in over 200!! Even if you do find yourself in either situation, you are much more likely to survive if you have your wits about as opposed to being bashed around and knocked unconcious. 7 - Give me a break, this is just plain idiotic. 8 - Nobody, repeat, NOBODY has the strength required to keep themselves from being propelled forward after their vehicle comes to a complete stop in such a short distance. For those who insist on not using seat belts, please have your crashes far away from me so I don't have to view the ensuing carnage. I'm not too keen on the sight of blood and body parts strewn along the highway. Not to mention the resulting traffic jams and rubberneckers which will delay me and all others behind you from arriving at our destinations in reasonable time. Oh yeah, better leave your loved ones an explanation as to why you are departing this earth before your time, they're sure to understand. I know that my rant isn't likely to change many opinions, at least consider both sides of this arguement. My $0.02 Tom Balaz
Yes, and you and add to that the reality that most of the driving we do is close to home because . . . well, that's where we live! It would be hard to avoid that, actually. The argument that government shouldn't make things mandatory is somewhat flawed. Of course the government is supposed to make rules to protect us. To govern means to regulate. There has to be some kind of order to keep us all on the same page in some respects. Society needs laws to avoid chaos. Just because we like to maintain control of our own environments does not mean that we can simply do so without affecting others' environments. I think the seat belt law is a prime example of how we protect ourselves from each other. I think success in society will come by learning how to live with each other rather than how to live by ourselves.
Good grief just forget about being rebels and obey the law and wear them. 1. They save lives. Period. My sister-in-law is on the Trauma team at the local Children's hospital. Spend a week watching what comes in the ER via the Care flight Copter and you won't feel so macho about bucking the system very long. 2. Remember, if it's the law and somebody else pops you putting you in the hospital and its their fault guess what kind of cash you have to put up to fight their insuracnce company because your injuries wouldn't have been as bad had you been wearing the belt? 3. We all pay higher insurance rates when folks who don't wear them bang into each other. Remember we live in the Land of the Free, the Home of the Brave and the House of the Sue Happy. 4. Like my H.S. Driver's Ed instructor always said "You aren't driving a car, you are aiming it." Think about it when you are in the midst of a freeway full of cell phone users. 5. Want to get in a head on wreck while in a car that has an airbag and you aren't buckled up? People forget that the bags are designed to be used with belts since the belts stop some of your forward motion. I had two co-workers have a truck turn in front of them while they were going down a 2 lane highway at 60mph. They were in a 95 Riviera. Both bags deployed. The guy driving was wearing his belt and was fine. The lady with him who always wears her belt forgot to buckle up. She only had time to put one hand out and as she was being thrown forward it was blown back by the force of the bag and crushed the bones and nerves. 6. Why will you get on a 65 mph roller coaster and not think twice about buckling up and yet you have no problem traveling down a two lane road with tons of metal coming by you less than 5 feet away?
Do I have the right to maintain a high-cholesterol diet if I so choose? Can I sit on the couch and watch TV from the age of 15 till whenever I die (which will be earlier than if I were to be active all my life). Preventative medical exams save lives; should we have laws mandating them? Sure, accidents are quick and gory, but there are so many health risks that conclusively shorten lives, yet we would never want to make laws for them. We do not intend to shorten our lives by them, but it happens anyway, just like an auto accident. These other things will also be payed by our tax dollars; so that arguement for seatbelts is a bit dubious. At what point should we consider it rediculous for the government to protect us from ourselves?
Isn't it interesting how the government can stick it's nose so far into our own buisness?o No: Since this thread is about seatbelts and what-not, my opinion is that everybody that is old enough to make their own decisions about their own safety should be able to make that decision, until that point, the people old enough to make decisions in the car should decide who where's the seat-belt. Especially kids, sitting in front/or back. I for one wear a seatbelt when driving my car, and when riding in any other cars, especially with airbags. But, I personally, think people old enough should make their own safety decisions, without the government sticking it's head above our shoulders!:Comp: Just my .002 cents worth. -Cody
I recently posted on a similar subject on the BCA forum:http://www.aaca.org/ubbthreads/showflat.php?Cat=&Number=229291&page=0&view=collapsed&sb=5&o=&fpart=1#Post229903 I'm against child seats as well as I'm against seat belts. It bothers me to wear them to the point of being highly distracted when driving. That's one of the reasons why I never wear it. I do care about passive safety however, that's why I searched for and found a 1975 Electra that has air bags instead of the standard shoulder belts!
I don't believe in the government telling us how to live etc.etc. However, here in CA I see alot of families driving down the freeways with little kids jumping around in the backseat. I think that should be a big fine. I grew my driving wheels living up a canyon owning a bench seat. While it was great for sliding a date over around cosy corners, I always wore mine. So it's no big deal. I hope they don't pulling us over for it because my 63 and 65 only have lap belts not visible anyway but, if they just give warnings and tickets after being pulled over for something else then it's fine by me.
We'll let darwin take care of you. Did you read that seat belts go *with* airbags? They fly out at your face, if you wearing a seatbelt, your face is 10 inches away and then lands on the airbag, if not, your face is 1/2 an inch away, you have a gas filled bag flying at your face fast enough to break bones.
