If this is considered political, please move it. I wasn't sure.
So, I had to drive to the doctor for my 2 week post-op follow up last week and because I had abdominal surgery I couldn't wear my seat belt. On the back roads I wasn't too worried about it as there's not any traffic and I don't do stupid stuff like text and drive. But when I hit town I was paranoid, both of getting hit and of getting stopped by a cop. (He would have had to give me a ticket because there was no way I could wear the seat belt)
As I was sitting in traffic the thought came to me that I remember a time when wearing seat belts was just not done. It wasn't a thought in our minds to use them and it wasn't against the law. I don't even remember when or why it became law. I guess too many people were dying in car accidents.
Anyway..... I think it's a smart idea to wear them, I felt pretty exposed when not wearing mine, but should it be a law? As an adult who can make an informed decision, should we be forced to wear them? I believe we should be able to make an informed decision personally. But I believe that about most things.
Well, I don't like the government telling me what to do so...... It's like wearing a helmet when you ride a motorcycle. Should be personal choice
Quote:Well, I don't like the government telling me what to do so...... It's like wearing a helmet when you ride a motorcycle. Should be personal choice
While I'm with you on the helmet thing the problem with not wearing a seatbelt is your body becomes a 200 pound missile within the car. People have died because someone else in the car wasn't wearing their seatbelt got slammed into them.
The government already tells you what you can and can not do when driving...speed limits, stuff like that. I'm okay with them making people wear seat beats too, because many lives have been saved because of them. I have always wore a seatbelt when driving, I feel naked without it and I started driving before they became a requirement by law.
And I think people that ride motorcycles without helmets are complete idiots...but that's just me. I personally like keeping my skull intact...I'm quirky like that.
Quote:While I'm with you on the helmet thing the problem with not wearing a seatbelt is your body becomes a 200 pound missile within the car. People have died because someone else in the car wasn't wearing their seatbelt got slammed into them.
I'd be interested to see those stats. My guess is it is very very rare.
Yes, there should be seat belt laws.
Children really aren't in a position to make an informed decision to wear a seat belt or not. It's up to their parents if they wear one. If the parent is required to wear a seat belt, it'll encourage the children to wear theirs too.
Personally I won't pull out of the driveway until I know all of my passengers are buckled up. Be they my wife, my kids, or a friend. It sets a good example for my children.
I used to hate wearing them. Until i was about 15 and got into an accident where the suv i was in with my grandma got hit and flipped over a few times. Luckily i was wearing it then (grandmas rules) I escaped with a bruise on my arm that could have been a lot worse if i hadn't had my seatbelt on.
I would definitely wear mine now whether required by law or not because it makes to do so. That and I've been doing it so long that I would feel unsafe without it.
And I would agree that parents should buckle their kids in. When I see kids crawling around a car while going down the road I cringe. I just remember the days as a kid when we didn't wear them and it just wasn't a problem.
Heck, we road in the back of pickup trucks on 95 when we'd travel to here to NC for church conventions when I was a kid. The parents threw a double sized crap mattress in the back with some pillows, sheets and a flashlight to signal if we had to pee (we traveled at night sometimes) and that's how my sister and I made the 9 hour trip. The bed did have a top on it with windows that opened and had screens so the bugs couldn't fly in. Oh, the days......
Quote:I'd be interested to see those stats. My guess is it is very very rare.
I'm not sure it is. There was an awareness campaign run over here a few years back. The tv ad showed a passenger without a seatbelt on sat behind a driver wearing one. In the ad the driver had to break suddenly throwing the passenger forward. His head smashed into the back of her head killing her. Cue the passenger in the front screaming her head off while the passenger is thrown back into his seat dazed and slowly realising what has happened.
Seatbelt law is a perfect example of try to legislate responsibility. I have a huge problem with seat belt laws, but no one should be surprised by that.
Someone explain to me why we have speed limits, require passenger and drivers to wear restraint belts, require vehicles to be equipped with specific safety features but still make vehicles that go over 100mph? At that speed all the extra safety steps you've taken are useless.
It's picking and choosing what level of responsibility an individual practices.
Quote:Seatbelt law is a perfect example of try to legislate responsibility. I have a huge problem with seat belt laws, but no one should be surprised by that.
Someone explain to me why we have speed limits, require passenger and drivers to wear restraint belts, require vehicles to be equipped with specific safety features but still make vehicles that go over 100mph? At that speed all the extra safety steps you've taken are useless.
It's picking and choosing what level of responsibility an individual practices.
They make cars go over 100 mph because if they made cars with a max of whatever the highest speed limit is, they'd overheat a lot faster, and would absolutely kill your gas mileage.
I wear my seat belt to save insurance companies and the government a lot of money! I don't know how but I feel proud of myself.
Quote:I wear my seat belt to save insurance companies and the government a lot of money! I don't know how but I feel proud of myself.
Yet they both still screw us over when the chips are down.
Quote:They make cars go over 100 mph because if they made cars with a max of whatever the highest speed limit is, they'd overheat a lot faster, and would absolutely kill your gas mileage.
What no sir the speed your can go has nothing to do with it's cooling ability. A throttle restriction at 80 mph doesn't effect the cars performance or cooling at lower speeds. I'm not advocating it I'm just pointing the absurdity in trying to legislate responsibility.
Quote:What no sir the speed your can go has nothing to do with it's cooling ability. A throttle restriction at 80 mph doesn't effect the cars performance or cooling at lower speeds. I'm not advocating it I'm just pointing the absurdity in trying to legislate responsibility.
In some countries (Germany) on some roads there is no speed limit.
I'm not an advocate of speeding, however I do believe our highway speed limit in the UK is too low as do most motorists (currently 70mph). you would have to be driving pretty recklessly to be pulled over by the police if you were doing around 80.
The problem is, at higher speeds your margin for error is much smaller. You could end up causing a crash which kills and injures multiple people. That's why there needs to be a limit. It's not just to protect the driver. The same as seatbelt laws.
Quote:In some countries (Germany) on some roads there is no speed limit.
I'm not an advocate of speeding, however I do believe our highway speed limit in the UK is too low as do most motorists (currently 70mph). you would have to be driving pretty recklessly to be pulled over by the police if you were doing around 80.
The problem is, at higher speeds your margin for error is much smaller. You could end up causing a crash which kills and injures multiple people. That's why there needs to be a limit. It's not just to protect the driver. The same as seatbelt laws.
Agreed, I'm just pointing out the absurdity of legislating responsibility. Seat belt laws are just revenue streams on the public, click it or ticket might as well be a fund raiser for the local county.
Here mr jones enjoy your new car we built to go 140 mph but hot damn wear that seat belt or we're going to fine you! Cause government cares about you America!
Quote:Agreed, I'm just pointing out the absurdity of legislating responsibility. Seat belt laws are just revenue streams on the public, click it or ticket might as well be a fund raiser for the local county.
Here mr jones enjoy your new car we built to go 140 mph but hot damn wear that seat belt or we're going to fine you! Cause government cares about you America!
And oh how you'd yell about government interference if they did mandate speed governors on cars. It really sounds like you just get pissy if the government does anything at all to keep people safe. Seat belt laws save lives and the government has a responsibility to enact safety rules on public roads. They've saved mine as a guy who refused to wear one until they mandated it. It's a good thing I didn't roll my car on Normandy Blvd until AFTER the law took effect because I probably wouldn't be here to irritate all you good folks otherwise. Once you're sitting on the interior ceiling of your car and look up to see your children hanging from their seatbelts you get a new appreciation for the value of those things and recognize what they do for the public welfare.
Quote:What no sir the speed your can go has nothing to do with it's cooling ability. A throttle restriction at 80 mph doesn't effect the cars performance or cooling at lower speeds. I'm not advocating it I'm just pointing the absurdity in trying to legislate responsibility.
Running any machine at near capacity is going to cause it to overheat.
Furthermore making cars that can't go over a certain speed limit would do nothing to decrease the need for speed limits. After all the speed limit in a school zone is not the same as the speed limit on the interstate. And Speed Limits are very much for OTHER drivers safety as well. Not just personal safety.
I'm about 50/50 on wearing a seat belt.. Sometimes I wear it, sometimes I don't. Either way, gotta love window tint.. Cant fine what you can't see.. At least for seatbelt..
Quote:Agreed, I'm just pointing out the absurdity of legislating responsibility. Seat belt laws are just revenue streams on the public, click it or ticket might as well be a fund raiser for the local county.
You seem the think that if a person is in an accident while not wearing a seat belt, they are the only one affected. But that's not true. It affects their mother and father, their wife, husband, and children. It affects their friends, and it even affects people who don't know them, because the severity of the injuries puts a strain on the hospital system, causing our insurance rates to go up. Try telling the mother of a teenage girl or boy that there should be no seat belt laws.
And what about if I accidentally run a stop sign and hit someone who is not wearing a seat belt. They could be dead, and I would be headed for a lengthy jail term for, at best, manslaughter. If they had been wearing their seat belt, we exchange insurance information and go on with our lives.
So it's not just the person who is injured who is affected. It's all of us, in a variety of ways. That's why most reasonable people support seat belt laws.