Pickup Owners: Do you buckle up?

[Ed of all trades]

You simply could not be more mistaken, but I'm sure nothing I could say would change your mind. Personally, like a lot of people, I don't like a law that only makes you protect yourself, so even though I wear seat belts all the time, and would be uncomfortable without them, I used to feel it shouldn't be a law that you HAVE to wear them. I used to ride motorcycles; didn't like the helmet law because there were lots of times when it was just too HOT.

However, there have been some studies done that concluded those laws don't just protect YOU because accidents that kill or cripple people cost all of us in the form of welfare or disability payments to some of those injured, higher insurance premiums for all of us, etc.

I've no doubt that each of us knows of several laws with which we disagree, especially if they affect us personally. Does that mean we should ignore and violate such laws? How about if everyone only obeyed the laws he/she agrees with?

Yep well said Bird

 

[k0ua]

As most of you that know me, know that I am rather conservative, and not for a lot of government intrusion into our lives. That said, I wear my seat belt. It is just the prudent thing to do. I have been to a lot of automobile accidents (ex LEO) and seat belts save far far more lives than they take.. It just makes sense to wear them.

This argument against wearing seat belts is very similar to the arguments about smoking. Those of you that smoke, how many of you in your heart of hearts think that smoking is beneficial to your health? Not many I would wager. But I have heard some smokers cite their "grandpa" or some such that lived to the ripe old age of 94 and smoked like a chimney. Yeah, OK, maybe so, but that doesn't mean you are going to be able to duplicate that record. In the vast majority of cases if you smoke, it will significantly shorten your life and the lives of those around you.

Not wearing your seat belt could significantly shorten your life also.

 

[Gary Fowler]

Back on 1988 I was a passenger in my own car. ( IROC Camaro ) We hit black going maybe 45/50 mph. Car spun into oncoming traffic and was hit directly on the passengers door by a car coming the other way. The impact pushed the inside of the door over the passengers seat and hit the driver on his right shoulder. I was ejected out of the TTop. Has I been wearing a seat belt, no doubt I wouldn't be here today. I still don't wear one today.

To be quite plan, that is a stupid reason and is hypothetical that you were saved by being ejected. Almost all people that are ejected from a car during a wreck die from the incident.

Likely the passenger (you) could have/would have been killed from this, although you likely were somewhat damaged from the impact, but still you should reassess the issue of seat belts in today's cars
The number of people killed because of wearing a seat belt is so low as to be almost nil when compared to the number of lives saved. Todays cars with air bags at steering and side impact air bags will plainly protect your more so than you will be from flying thru the air to impact with trees, other vehicles or pavement.

 

[stuckmotor]

I learned to drive in a car without seatbelts and old habits are hard to break. I buckle up when I get in, if I can remember. If I forget, the dag blasted beeper drives me crazy until I do. One day I'm probably going to get killed trying to reach into my pocket with the seatbelt on.

 

[ultrarunner]

Do you guys add seat belts to vehicles that don't have them?

I did add them to my Model T Speedster as it is totally exposed... no doors, sides or top.

When I was in Europe I learned they have a different take on seatbelts and most crashed cars are picked up with a crane...

Where I was there was no compulsory seat belt law... only that the insurance did not have to pay for injuries to a person was not belted... Europe has a very high incident of seatbelt usage.

 

[Bird]

Do you guys add seat belts to vehicles that don't have them?

My first showroom new car was a 1962 Austin Healey Sprite. They did not come with seat belts back then, but we sold after market seat belts in my Dad's auto parts store, and I installed a set in the Sprite. And when I became a police officer in 1964, our Ford squad cars had the lap belt; no retractors, no shoulder belt. And many officers never used them since there was neither state law nor departmental policy requiring they be worn. I used mine.

 

[bcp]

I've no doubt that each of us knows of several laws with which we disagree, especially if they affect us personally. Does that mean we should ignore and violate such laws? How about if everyone only obeyed the laws he/she agrees with?

That would mean citizens behaving like politicians and gov't.

Bruce

 

[oldpilgrim]

Do you guys add seat belts to vehicles that don't have them?

I did add them to my Model T Speedster as it is totally exposed... no doors, sides or top.

I don't have them in my 14 T Touring or in my 31 A roadster. The T has sides but only rise only about 6 inches above the seat cushion, so effectively there are no sides. In the A, you sit rather low and the sides are about arm pit high. I know of no one in our 60 member Model T club who has installed belts.

I've driven and ridden in my Dad's T speedster many many times with no sides, just a skinny bucket seat, and it's exhilarating ! (no belts).

 

[Creamer]

That would mean citizens behaving like politicians and gov't.

Bruce

So true!

 

[Creamer]

You simply could not be more mistaken, but I'm sure nothing I could say would change your mind. Personally, like a lot of people, I don't like a law that only makes you protect yourself, so even though I wear seat belts all the time, and would be uncomfortable without them, I used to feel it shouldn't be a law that you HAVE to wear them. I used to ride motorcycles; didn't like the helmet law because there were lots of times when it was just too HOT.

However, there have been some studies done that concluded those laws don't just protect YOU because accidents that kill or cripple people cost all of us in the form of welfare or disability payments to some of those injured, higher insurance premiums for all of us, etc.

I've no doubt that each of us knows of several laws with which we disagree, especially if they affect us personally. Does that mean we should ignore and violate such laws? How about if everyone only obeyed the laws he/she agrees with?

You said a mouthful Bird but I have to disagree. The seatbelt laws were to limit insurance costs for the insurance companies. They are the ones who wrote the laws for congress and pushed the issues to the public. I have to agree with Ultrarunner - it is as simple as insurance should not have to cover you if you were not using your seatbelt like Europe does.

Still - as you mentioned Bird - the problem comes in with the healthcare falling on everybody for smoking, reckless lifestyle, etc. There should be an opt out clause for stupidity.

 

[ultrarunner]

I don't have them in my 14 T Touring or in my 31 A roadster. The T has sides but only rise only about 6 inches above the seat cushion, so effectively there are no sides. In the A, you sit rather low and the sides are about arm pit high. I know of no one in our 60 member Model T club who has installed belts.

I've driven and ridden in my Dad's T speedster many many times with no sides, just a skinny bucket seat, and it's exhilarating ! (no belts).

I signed up to go on a local timed run/hill climb and there were two requirements... seatbelts and a fire extinguisher... none of my other pre 1965 vehicles have them.

 

[kebo]

Back to the OP's question.... Yes, I wear the seatbelts in my '13 Silverado.
Not 100% of the time, but probably at least 95% of the time.

 

[Howling]

Was wearing my seat belt today.

Never know when things are going to go sideways.

 

[colsonbrooke]

I read in the small offset crash test report that approx. 77% of pickup drivers wear seat belts, meaning that something like a quarter of us don't. I could imagine maybe tractor owners might be a LITTLE more safety aware than the general public, but maybe not. How often do you wear yours? Always? Never?

I were mine all the time.

 

[Creamer]

On my tractor - never. 1) because it doesn't have one and 2) it doesn't have a ROPS

 

[MinnesotaEric]

I read in the small offset crash test report that approx. 77% of pickup drivers wear seat belts, meaning that something like a quarter of us don't. I could imagine maybe tractor owners might be a LITTLE more safety aware than the general public, but maybe not. How often do you wear yours? Always? Never?

My shirt is too dirty to buckle up everytime, but I drive Ford so everybody else is in trouble.

 

[k0ua]

Was wearing my seat belt today.
View attachment 465128
Never know when things are going to go sideways.

Glad you were not hurt, and glad you were using the safety equipment (seat belt/ROPS).

If you don't mind helping others here in the future, will you confirm that you were traveling with a load in the bucket, the bucket up high and had no ballast (to speak of) on the 3pt. Three things when taken together, and then add in a turn or slightly uneven ground equals rollover. Again the purpose of this is to help others.

 

[Copperhead]

You simply could not be more mistaken, but I'm sure nothing I could say would change your mind. Personally, like a lot of people, I don't like a law that only makes you protect yourself, so even though I wear seat belts all the time, and would be uncomfortable without them, I used to feel it shouldn't be a law that you HAVE to wear them. I used to ride motorcycles; didn't like the helmet law because there were lots of times when it was just too HOT.

However, there have been some studies done that concluded those laws don't just protect YOU because accidents that kill or cripple people cost all of us in the form of welfare or disability payments to some of those injured, higher insurance premiums for all of us, etc.

I've no doubt that each of us knows of several laws with which we disagree, especially if they affect us personally. Does that mean we should ignore and violate such laws? How about if everyone only obeyed the laws he/she agrees with?

Well, it is a bit dramatic of an attempt to equate a seat belt law with some sort to "what if people obeyed only the laws they chose to". Simply because many laws deal with things that directly affect another person... rape, murder, theft, etc. And there are no spitting on the sidewalk laws and other stuff that has nothing to do with affecting anyone. And when I see in broad terms the nature and goal of government, especially from my experiences in Viet Nam and everything since, it is quite a stretch to think that their primary motivation for instituting seat belt laws was safety. Unlike maybe where you live, there is no helmet law in Iowa for motorcyclists. So where is the so-called concern for citizen safety? Clearly not evident. I am keenly aware that LE agencies like stacking all kinds of laws on so they can have a justifiable position to make a traffic stop and use it for a fishing expedition to find other things they can get someone on. I have friends in law enforcement that comment to that effect to me personally.

And lets be brutally honest here... states were forced into making seat belt laws at risk of losing highway funding from the Feds. That is pure fact. Many states would not have such restrictive seat belt laws if the Feds weren't threatening to cut off the highway money if they didn't.

In your attempt to state I am mistaken, you conveniently left out the things that I expounded on to make the point. Like variable speed limit laws that place more people in jeopardy by forcing legally faster autos and pickups to intermingle with large commercial trucks which are mandated to run slower on the same road. And right lane restriction laws for commercial trucks which force more interaction between vehicles, and compounds the problem when combined with variable speed limits. Clearly again, no evidence of safety being the primary concern. It was done clearly because some politician and his buddies wanted a clear shot to race down the road in the left lane because he felt he was on a mission from God and more important that the rabble. Then he has to cut back in between the slower commercial vehicles forced to the right lanes and bunched up so he can make his exit ramp, many times just barely. All the while endangering others.

You claim to be so well versed in all of this, well I am no newbie either. I have racked up nearly 6 million actual documented commercial driving miles (with ZERO at fault accidents) and see this kind of stuff every day and am more keenly aware that those who institute this nonsense need to be taken out and flogged. And you in Texas should be aware, especially since some guy who worked on an aircraft carrier designed the on and off ramps on I-35. Like I am supposed to get a 80,000 lb truck up to any reasonable speed to merge into traffic on a ramp that is only 300 feet long. The Navy guy who developed those ramps forgot the catapult. Obviously safety was not a factor in the design yet again.

And states just keep ramping up the speed limits, even though there is substantial evidence that accident injuries and deaths are going up exponentially. For instance, states that have raised speed limits to 75 mph, have effectively negated the lives saved by air bags. That is DOT statistics. The number of lives saved by air bags has now been negated by the increased deaths due to higher speed limits. Again, where is governments overwhelming concern for safety? And while they want to bump these speed limits up, they are set to mandate that every commercial vehicle over 26,000 lb has to be speed limited mechanically to 65 mph. Again, creating that wonderful differential speed that is soooo safe.

That is why I do not worship at the seat belt alter.

 

[GManBart]

Was wearing my seat belt today.
View attachment 465128
Never know when things are going to go sideways.

Ouch...glad you're okay! It looks like you were on essentially level ground....some people are under the impression a rollover can't happen on level ground. What happened?

 

[Howling]

Glad you were not hurt, and glad you were using the safety equipment (seat belt/ROPS).

If you don't mind helping others here in the future, will you confirm that you were traveling with a load in the bucket, the bucket up high and had no ballast (to speak of) on the 3pt. Three things when taken together, and then add in a turn or slightly uneven ground equals rollover. Again the purpose of this is to help others.

Took ballast box off day before to move trailer. Do have rears filled.

Moving dirt in yard to level out around rock that sticking up. FEL up ready to dump, moved forward a little. Front left wheel up on that rock tipped tractor. Does not take much to go over center.