seat belt - always -

[keeney]

I will re-assert my point that most people do not have the expertise to make an informed decision regarding seatbelt usage.

It is usually not possible to gather meaningful statistics from personal experience - most of us are not personally involved in enough car accidents to learn about the survivability difference between using and not using seatbelts.

The average person is not an expert on car accidents, so they don't know the risk they are taking. Driving a car every day does not qualify a person to be an expert on car accidents. Being involved in car accidents every day would be the requirement.

By using the knowledge of those who are experts on the technology in question, the government can provide appropriate safety guidelines either in the product, or by regulating its use. This enables people to safely use complex products that are beyond their ability to personally evaluate the risks of using.

I think mandatory seatbelt use is one of the cheapest, easiest, and most efficient ways to make cars safer.

Cost = pass one law, write some tickets (partially self-funded).
Lives saved = 100's of thousands.

Imagine how much it would suck if we did something else instead like lower the national speed limit to 25 MPH or made every vehicle more expensive (and bigger and heavier) so as to include complete air-bag surround for all passengers.

- Rick

As I say to my fellow passengers every time I get in a car: "Prepare for impact!'

 

[Junkman]

I believe that a law to ban cell phones from being used by drivers would also go a long way to eliminate accidents caused by distractions. The only reason that it will never happen is that there are too many users and the telecommunications industry lobby would be against it. I don't believe that a driver without a seat belt is as dangerous as a driver talking on a cell phone... even the hands off models... Watch what their hands are doing while they are talking... I have seen orchestra conductors use their hands less!!!!! No question about it..... seat belts save lives... and cell phone use in cars cause serious accidents every day!!!!

 

[thcri]

Back in 1977 I was involved in a bad car accident. I didn't have my seat belt on. If I would have had my seat belt on I would not be writing this note today. The car hit an embankment and both the drive and I flew through the windshield. The car exploded on impact. No one would have gotten us out of there. Weird how both of us went through. I use to fight against seat belts and I was not a fan of air bags. But as time has passed I am believeing more and more in the seat belts and air bags. My new F150 makes you wear your belt. There may be a way to disconnect or turn off but I am not going to. It is a good reminder. I have seen to many accidents where the belts have saved lives. My acident is one of very few incidents. Overall a good thing.

Oh yes, if I turned the thing off on my pickup my kids would still yell at me to put them on.

murph

 

[PineRidge]

Kids are really a great reason to use them Murph. Sometimes I think they are smarter than the adults. I know mine were the same way and now as adults they automatically buckle up. It is a personal choice that we can all make.

 

[MossRoad]

<font color="blue">I believe that a law to ban cell phones from being used by drivers would also go a long way to eliminate accidents caused by distractions. The only reason that it will never happen is that there are too many users and the telecommunications industry lobby would be against it. </font>

That law is coming to a state near you sooner or later... I believe I heard on the news the other night that two states already have banned hand held cell phones while operating a moving motor vehicle and several cities have the bans, too.

I've found that if I'm moving and start on a call, especially brain intense calls, like work related stuff, by the time I finish the call, I really can't recall what happend during the phone call, IE... I'll start the call on the West side of town and I'll finish on the East side, but I can't remember passing any landmarks, etc... I just get there on auto pilot. I don't like that feeling. I now pull over to make any calls. And I turn the phone off so that I can't recieve any calls while I'm moving.

As for seat belts in cars, I never used them until about 1981 or 1982. I got in a wreck at low speed and really banged my head. A few weeks earlier, my sister and ex-brother-in-law were in the same model car and they had there belts on. They got in a wreck at 35MPH and just had bruised shoulders where the seat belts stopped their bodies. That was enough to convince me. And I always weare my belt on my tractor, even if I am moving it 5 feet. It is so easy to put on and now it is just a habit. /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif

 

[Junkman]

Unfortunately, the law that is coming is only going to ban hand held units. I think that they should ban them completely for the driver.... hand held and hands off.... possibly a interface between the cars transmission and the cell phone so you couldn't use it when the car was in motion would be the way to go. I don't object to cell phones, but the distraction that they cause. I have a close friend that spent 6 months in the hospital after being hit head on by a person talking on a cell phone. It was a hands free phone, but he was distracted and went over the line and into oncoming traffic on the highway. My friend was life flighted to the hospital and wasn't expected to live, but 5 days later he started to turn around. He is now permanently disabled and the insurance money isn't enough to support him for the rest of his life. The hospital got more money than he did because the drivers insurance ran out..... but that it another controversial subject that I won't get into.... Under insured drivers...
Almost forgot to mention.... he now gets Social Security Disability as a result.... we the people are now paying for this cell phone calls result..... /forums/images/graemlins/frown.gif

 

[Lazy]

Hi
Don’t forget about putting on make-up, eating breakfast in your car while on the way to work, talking on 2-way radios, and reading a book or newspaper.

Charlie.

 

[Junkman]

Yep..... know about that for certain..... got rear ended by a woman that had a cup of coffee in one hand and McDonald's sandwich in the other. A car cut in front of me at a highway intersection and I had to stop quickly..... she didn't .... totaled both cars.... Wanted to know why I stopped.... The driver in the car next to her couldn't believe it. When the police arrived that driver (woman also) told the cop what had happened. He just shook his head in amazement. She decided that she was injured and went to the hospital to try to avoid getting the summons...... it didn't work.... they hand delivered the summons to her in the emergency room. Following too close and driving to endanger..... never heard how it came out in the end.... I got a new car though..... /forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif

 

[thcri]

Minnesota tried issueing tickets to people for using the cell phones and all tickets got thrown out. However with time the police found a loop hole in the law and then started writing tickets for distraction or impeding having control of your vehicle. All them tickets went through. So in Minnesota you should have a hands free device. I have them in my vehicles. Mostly for when driving and talking I can write stuff down. But I also found with the reception as it is with the new digital phones it is best to pull over anyway.

murph

 

[PineRidge]

I for one NEVER use a cell phone while driving. It tends to get in the way of my Big Mac and extra hot, hot cup of coffee balanced between my legs. /forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif

 

[zuiko]

I think fast food should be illegal since people are not cardiologists and can't be expected to understand the impact fat intake can have on their cardiovascular system. Then once you spend all your money on hospital bills from your forth heard attack the taxpayers will have to pay your way.

All the same arguments for mandatory saftey equipment use can be extended to include just about any activity we engage in. Not a road I want to continue any further down.

You also have the law of unintended consequences in full effect. Air bags were mandated and innocent people did die because of it. Sure, more people were saved than killed by the air bags but what gives the government the right to decide that someone is going to die so 5 others can live.

That said I try to use the safety equipment available where it makes sense (seat switch, rops, belt, etc). Occasionally they will come out with a safety feature that actually makes things more dangerous like the RIO switches on lawn tractors now days. That gets bypassed.

 

[shvl73]

Here in NH we also have a distracted driver law, it seems a pretty sensible way to handle it. There seem to be many things people do in their car while moving, other than actually driving the car. As far as mandantory seat belt laws, NH has so far avoided them as well as helmet laws, yet we score higher on voluntary usage than some states with seat belt laws.

 

[Junkman]

"Live Free or Die"....... just don't tape over it..... /forums/images/graemlins/blush.gif /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

 

[shvl73]

Yeah, that did kinda tweak them a bit didn't it?!

 

[Jeff396]

I use my seatbelt every time I get in the car and have since I was a teen in the early 80's. I also use the belt on the tractor but I'm glad my Kubota doesn't have one of those seat safety switches.

With that said, I can't express how happy I am that those automatic seat shoulder belts died an early death. You know, the one where when you hit the key the shoulder belt came back automatically. That sure made for fun oil changes when you, without thinking, leaned into the car to start it up. /forums/images/graemlins/blush.gif

Jeff

 

[markct]

</font><font color="blue" class="small">( Occasionally they will come out with a safety feature that actually makes things more dangerous like the RIO switches on lawn tractors now days. That gets bypassed.
)</font>

what the heck is a RIO switch? i cant think of what those letters could stand for and never heard the term before, even during the couple years i worked in a lawn mower and chainsaw shop

 

[zuiko]

RIO = Reverse Implement Option. It's a button on the dash you have to hold in to go in reverse with the PTO engaged, otherwise it kills the engine. So that way you can focus on whats important: holding the button in, instead of looking behind you. /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif

 

[jimg]

LOL! You got that right Torin...putting on make-up, reading the morning paper, talking on cell phones, eating breakfast.... My personal favorite is reading the paper. Look down and read for 4 or 5 secs look up for 2 and repeat. Ya gotta wonder! A few yrs ago I almost got tagged by a guy who dumped hot coffee in his lap while passing me at 80+. He lost control and bounced off the guard rails between the median and shoulder several times. He finally came to a stop in the rigth hande break down lane. Guess the moral of that story is drink cold coffee if you plan to drive. /forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif

As for seat belt laws we DO have one. Passengers under 18 must be belted while the vehicle is moving.

 

[higgy]

Here in Idaho you are required to ware a seatbelt. They can not stop you for not waring one but can ticket you if they stop you for something else?????

Also we have a helmet law, you must ware one until you are 18 then it is your choice to die with out a helmet.

My wife was saved by a helmet, no doubt there, man that pavemet it hard.

They have the right to choice. When we are paying their bills we should have the choice as well, hmm.. no helmet, na I don't want my tax dollars going their, put them to the schools instead.