Why is seat belt useage so low among Southern PICKUP

[GFritsch]

Greg, I'm with you in that I'm pretty libertarian, but I can't indulge those tendencies because of the fact that TAXPAYERS end up footing so much of the bill for other people's bad choices.



Have a kid you can't afford to raise? It's OK, welfare will help you.

Dying of cancer from all your smoking? Hey, Medicare is just what the Dr. ordered.



Because SOMEONE has to pay when someone does something stupid, I have to support these laws that help to reduce the amount of taxpayer dollars that are abused...



jh

I guess it is the cost of being free (kinda)



More people die and have health complications from being overweight and not taking care of themselves than go through the windshield of their car. More people die from smoking than head injuries from no helmet. Why pick on the few in the name of social conscience when the masses are killing themselves with cigarettes, drugs, alcohol, obesity, sedentary life style and job stress?



I am in favor of much more stringent enforcement of speeding, reckless driving, vehicle maintenance and much better training required to get and keep a license. Cars are allot like guns. Cars don't kill people, it's the human being that creates the damage, not the tool.



Greg

 

[JApol]

For the people that are active duty military seat belt use is REQUIRED at all times. If I get injured in a an accident the Navy in my case can deny to pay any or all of my medical bills.



Another reason is that I trust my driving skills but the other yahoos on the road is who I don't trust.

 

[REFLOYD]

For the people that are active duty military seat belt use is REQUIRED at all times. If I get injured in a an accident the Navy in my case can deny to pay any or all of my medical bills.



Another reason is that I trust my driving skills but the other yahoos on the road is who I don't trust.

I'll second that one. I reason i selected most of the time is because when I am back home visiting my parents I never buckle up because I am on the farm, or I am already in town and just moving the truck 1 parking lot down. All the rest of the time I WILL BUCKLE UP BECAUSE IF SOMETHING HAPPENS THE MARINE CORPS WONT PAY FOR S**T.

 

[NVR FNSH]

Until then, the government can stay out of my truck cab.

The gov't will stay out of your truck cab as long as you stay off "it's" roads.



Sounds pretty simple to me.



Before I forget - Driving isn't a constitutionaly protected right, is it?



Brian

 

[Sled Puller]

I didn't know the government owned the roads, Brian.



Did you say you work for the Gestapo??



Last I checked, my tax dollars went for road building, so I guess the road is mine as much as anyones.



And I say stay out of my truck. I'll decide on a seatbelt, or helmet.

 

[MChildress]

Here in Texas the law says you have to wear a seat belt but if you drive a motorcycle you dont have to wear a helment. Figure that one out. Oh and driving on a public road is a privelege not a constitutional right. Thats how you can loose your drivers license for DWI,bad driving record,and the like.

 

[hammersley]

Actually the Government does

I didn't know the government owned the roads, Brian.



Did you say you work for the Gestapo??



Last I checked, my tax dollars went for road building, so I guess the road is mine as much as anyones.



And I say stay out of my truck. I'll decide on a seatbelt, or helmet.

Own the Roads - unless it's private... ... ...

 

[AMink]

Having been through a back window of a car head first (my dad's TVR when I was 16 or 17) and still having the scar to show for it, I always wear my seatbelt. I did have it on at that time, but the clip pulled out of the the body and out I went when the car hit the telephone pole sideways at about 50mph. Tore the front end of the car entirely off, and the centrifugal force launched me. I landed on my feet, so says the witness, about 50 feet from the car. Wish I had that on tape! All things being equal, I think I would have rather stayed in the car! I kind of agree about not having the law tell us what to do, but then there are those adults with kids who don't belt them in and they crawl all over the place. If you want to take a chance, fine, but don't make your kid take a chance too.

 

[Yogafist]

Believe it or not, helmet and seat belt laws are credited with worsening the availability of donor organs. due to seat belt and helmet laws, Young men are not suffering head injuries serious enough to allow hospitals to harvest their organs as they once did. Young men are singled out because they are more inclined to take the chances that would result in serious head injuries.

 

[Sled Puller]

PA repealed their helmet law, so ifin you want to "HARVEST" some organs, this is the place.



How would I ever guess that Hammersly would stick up for the feds telling us what to do? :-laf

 

[Jong]

The last thing I'm going to say on this thread is this- until my state enacts a law saying I have to wear a seat belt, I will not wear one unless I feel like it. That is my choice. I'm glad I live in a state that allows me that freedom. I think if you actually read the statistics in the USA Today article you will notice that the difference in fatalities between NH and the rest of the nation is only 15%. You would think it would be much greater considering our "arcane" law. You might even consider that it should be greater considering the ice and snow we have to deal with 4 months of the year in one-vehicle accidents. I am sick and tired of any government (federal, state, or local) trying to regulate a decision that can be left up to individuals. And personal accountability should reign sumpreme. If you make a decision, be prepared to live with it... thank you, ambulance-chasing lawyers. That's my . 02

 

[hammersley]

At leats 10 of us responded that we don't

wear the seatbelt at all - a much smaller % that I would have thought but still to many IMO... ...

 

[JasonCzerak]

Anyone that knows of someone (or is someone) that is an ER doc, police, fire, ect. anyone to responds to traffic accidents as a profession.



Tell some stories.



Some of the ones I heard in my short days will make you sick and not even wanna drive.



Seat belts do work. Yes. some times they make it worse, but not nearly as much as to they do work. Maybe one day technology will be there that will deside if the belt should release or restrain. who knows.



The sudden impact and G forces on the human body can be worse then being flung 50 feet and slowing down considerably before impacting a 50/50 chance of grass or road. . But atleast you slide and tumble at that point... This is ASSUMING you go though a side window. . Windshields are a little more difficult to break for good reason.





I've been in a few accidents. My first one while driving was 45mph, some drunk lady in a wrangler desided to make a U-turn on a 5 lane road right infront of me. seat belt kept my brother in the truck as we hit the jeep dead on. He had a large bruse down his chest. I was fine, I was pressing on the break and clutch and holding on to the wheel. She, flung out, missed 4 cars. Begged to not call the cops and then ran. Drunk people always never get hurt. So freaking ironic. She had no belt on obviously, The jeep. totaled. F150 lived to see a few more years before sold.



My first one as a little kid was a bunch of us, in a church van on the way to Ceder Point... . Some of us didn't have our belts on in the back, I was one of them. Raining out. Retarded typical church going driver (sorry, most people with I see with "jesus fish" are retarded drivers even today. ), going way to fast trying to keep up with the other van, hydoplaned toward the side of hte road... no big deal right? just grass. Nope. As I recall, I seen a flash of a large pole scream across the windshield (from the back of the van!). We just mis it, but didn't mis the ditch that dropped down 10 feet. As we dropped, my face went up and scrapped on the roof. I cought the top of screw and had a 4 inch gash on my face. This was good. As if we hit that pole at 30 mph, a few of us would of ended up front. Just imaging was bodys do to peoples heads that were belted in as we fly though the air?





Yeah, I had it easy.

 

[JTHosler]

Thank god, I did not have my seatbelt on when I had my accident. I would not be here if I did (Firey roll-over). That being said, I believe seatbelts save lives, and I do wear one now. I am not comfortable wearing one (mentally), but I do. Seatbelts are a good cause, I just don't like be told to something.

 

[JDinterman]

I was in a accident when I was 19 A truck hit me drivers side directly in the door. I did not have my seat belt on and it saved my life I was able to roll over to the passengers side. Where I was sitting or should have was completely destroyed I would have been dead, even the cop asked me how I got away without a scratch. So I will never wear a seatbelt again, I will pay the tickets or whatever because it is my choice not the governments.

 

[SMolteberg]

It's quite fun to read how people say they are able to either crawl away from their oncomming vehicle or brace themself before the crash. Ever been in a crash simulator? We have a few of them here where they put you in a carseat with a belt rolling down a track. I think it has 5mph when it makes a sudden stop at the end of the track. Then you will both see and feel the forces in a sudden stop. When a crash happens it's usually a roll of a dice with the outcome, so why don't you do yourself a favor and up the odds for a good outcome? A good friend of mine walked away in two +100mph crashes with his bike, one without a scratch, the other with a broken finger and spraid ancle. But he killed himself crashing into a car in 25mph.

My belt are on when I leave my driveway.

 

[Sled Puller]

I've seen many a car at the junkyard with no seat left, either side. Its a roll of the dice whether you are going to hit something head on, or get creamed from the side.



I like to think my driving abilities will keep me out of most situations. I expect, to get hit from a cell phone moron crossing the centerline, or rearended, before anything else, so I'll wear mine. But the government still shouldn't be telling me to.

This click it or ticket crap is wayyyy out of line.

 

[JUeckert]

having been around law enforcement in some form or fashion most my life,as well as helping my brother with his wrecker service many a time,i have seen many an accident. some things that would litterly make you want to puke,some that upset you so bad you sit back and re think life,after your done drying the tears,life is A VERY FRAGILE THING. this being said i do wear my seatbelt most the time,but i do disagree that the law should enforce it. for many a years we had a law where motorcycles did not have to have helments,but vehicle drivers had to wear seatbelts,w. t. f ? sounds like a way to rake in money to me! there will be cases wear a belt can cause a problem,but more often than not they are safer. my opinoin,adults should be able to make there own choice,children should be belted. .

 

[JasonCzerak]

Currently the goverment is spending money on these seat belt ticket tv ads here. They are also doing speeding ones.



I'm very very very close to taking time off of work to hit up a town meeting in down town minneapolis and express my concern for all these GOVERMENT DRIVERS speeding, illegal lane changes, obstruction of traffic, wrong lane usage...



How many city buses have PASSED YOU when you are already doing 10mph over the limit? Around here, it's a lot. My favorite is the buss doing 65+ in hte left lane, and just cuts the entire highway off as it makes it way over to the right lane for the exit.

 

[Dl5treez]

If ya'll don't want to wear your seat belt, that's fine.



But please pay your own damn insurance premiums, health care premiums, and stop passing them on to those of us who don't appreciate your stupidity.