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I've met several people paralyzed, with spinal cord injuries after car accidents where they weren't wearing seatbelts. Horrible, severe disability for the rest of their lives, and most of them are very young (20's -30's).
What shocked me is how many of the "rationalized" their poor decisions to not wear seatbelts, which was their normal preference. Almost uniformly, they would say....
"If I had been wearing my seat belt, I probably would have been strangled in the front seat of the car.... luckily, I was thrown out of the car instead...."
Location: The western periphery of Terra Australis
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Malloric
Yeah, I drive with people who don't. Once I got in and was the only in the car with a seat belt on... that's four adults in the early 20 to late 20 range.
I tend to agree, it's none of the governments business. With the stipulation that if you get in a car accident with no seat belt on, you should be the one paying any medical bills. It's gross negligence not to wear one, and society or your insurance shouldn't be on the hook for stupid.
That's if you survive at all. And what of your family?
Definitely a good thing that wearing a setbelt is compulsory.
My parents didn't start the car until all of us had our seat belts on. And there were no seat belt laws back then.
When my oldest son started school he came home and asked why the school bus didn't have seat belts. He said, "Don't they want us to be safe?"
I used to work in the emergency room, and it was very sad to see severe head injuries people sustained in crashes when they weren't wearing seat belts. Even worse when the injured were children.
One 6 year old little girl had smashed her face when she flew forward and hit the dashboard. When her parents were asked why she wasn't in a safety seat, her mom said, "We thought the law was up to age five."
A really sad case was an accident where a little boy was thrown out of a car on Interstate 65, and run over and killed by another car. None of the adults were hurt, they were wearing their seat belts.
I am not one of those people who puts their belt on before they even MOVE the car one inch down the driveway, but I wear it most of the time...75 % I'd guess.
My commute to work is a half hour, highway then city. I put my belt on about five minutes into the trip, which is about 5-10 miles into the highway trip.
Sometimes I do NOT wear it if I'm just strolling around my town.
I also don't wear it when I get off from work, if I'm practically the only one on the road.
I witnessed an accident when I was about 19 years old. Was sitting on a picnic table with friends drinking beer when we heard a tremendous crash. It was about 11 oclock at night. A car with it's headlights turned off was racing on the side streets and ran a stopsign. They hit a pickup truck with 3 people sitting in the cab. Everyone was hurt pretty bad, no one wore their seatbelts.
I saw a huge hole in the middle of the windshield of the pickup. That's when we found out that there was a 3rd passenger. This beautiful 20 year old girl was 2 blocks from home. She was launched through the windshield and ended up under a parked car. Her head hit the back bumper on the way. There were about 10 of us so we rolled the car off her. Her scalp was peeled all the way back. I never saw something so terrible in my life.
All she had to do was wear her seatbelt and she would be alive today.
I have seen people that are diving not wearing their seat belt, I have no idea why they don't wear it.
I have been wearing a seat belt since the mid 70s and it has saved my life twice. Anyone that does not put on their seat belt in my car can walk.
A seat belt saved my life when my car ran into a tree at 50+mph. So there should be no reason why you shouldn't wear a seatbelt.
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