Driving without seatbelt

[Hollywoodhaha]

I was driving across a bridge today, and I was behind a car that had a bumper sticker that had one of those "a drunk driver killed my friend".
I thought, "oh, goodness!"

So, I get over because I am going to turn soon. I look to my right, and the driver in the bumper sticker car is not wearing his seat belt!

So .. he had a friend killed by a drunk driver .. (even if he didn't know that person and it was just to acknowledge all RIP) yet not wearing a seat belt?!

 

[tink_n_pooh]

Kind of like the motorcyclists that go on remembrance rides with no helmets?

 

[lillygator]

I have very mixed views on the subject, Yes, for the most part they save lives...I have known several instances where the car was hit in such a way the seatbelt was the issue holding the person in place and was killed as a result.

I do not feel FHP should be able to ticket me on seatbelt infractions when motorcyclists can go helmetless. My not wearing a seatbelt has no impact on any one else.

 

[lillygator]

Kind of like the motorcyclists that go on remembrance rides with no helmets?

??? you mean of motorcyclists that have been killed?

many of the remembrance rides around here are for - well, examples, the Carlie Brucia murder, the Somer Thompson murder, etc...nothing to do with cyclists not wearing helmets.

 

[hrh_disney_queen]

I have very mixed views on the subject, Yes, for the most part they save lives...I have known several instances where the car was hit in such a way the seatbelt was the issue holding the person in place and was killed as a result.

I do not feel FHP should be able to ticket me on seatbelt infractions when motorcyclists can go helmetless. My not wearing a seatbelt has no impact on any one else.

I disagree with this. You must be in your seat in order to have a chance at controlling your car. A seatbelt will keep you in place if you are in an accident. You won't have a chance at controlling your car after you are hit if you slide across the front seat or fly out the window. I am saying a chance, I know it's not a guarantee.


OP, was it an older car that maybe only had a lapbelt?

 

[Hollywoodhaha]

I disagree with this. You must be in your seat in order to have a chance at controlling your car. A seatbelt will keep you in place if you are in an accident. You won't have a chance at controlling your car after you are hit if you slide across the front seat or fly out the window. I am saying a chance, I know it's not a guarantee.


OP, was it an older car that maybe only had a lapbelt?

No, I forgot the kind but it was an '06
and when I looked over I saw the belt up, not used.

 

[mykidsand_i]

My not wearing a seatbelt has no impact on any one else.

Not true. When I was riding with my aunt three years ago, we were in a car accident. The windshield busted almost instantly and just as it was broken, The person that hit us wasn't wearing a seatbelt and flew into our windshield. My aunt had a severe head injury because of this mans head running directly into her forhead.

Not ONLY does she still have health issues, her and I have horrible nightmares because of this mans head being busted open (it's been 3 years and we STILL have them!). This is a sight that no one should see. Sure, the sight would have been bad even if he had been wearing a seatbelt, but this dead human being was thrown through the air, cut with huge gashes because he'd gone through HIS WINDSHIELD INTO OURS...and INTO MY AUNT.
We are lucky she wasn't killed. I THANK THE LORD EVERY DAY that This man didn't KILL her because of the idiotic thought that it 'doesn't hurt anyone else, so why should it matter'...

It definately can effect other people's lives. No one is 100% safe when they get into a car. NO ONE. It doesn't matter if you believe that you are 'unbreakable'...The searbelt law is THERE TO PROTECT OTHERS more than it is to protect the person not wearing it!

Also, there's a reason why people get tickets from a cop for not wearing their seatbelt...it's because IT'S THE LAW...

Don't kid yourself. ANYONE NOT WEARING A SEATBELT, it could ruin another persons life, not just your own.

 

[luvmy3]

One has nothing to do with the other.

 

[mykidsand_i]

One has nothing to do with the other.

No, it really doesn't. Motorcyclists not wearing helmets are an entirely different issue. Other than 'safety' in transportation, it's a totally different issue.

 

[luvmy3]

No, it really doesn't. Motorcyclists not wearing helmets are an entirely different issue. Other than 'safety' in transportation, it's a totally different issue.

I was actually talking about someone being killed by a drunk driver and someone choosing not to wear a seatbelt and how the OP seems to think there is some kind of hypocrisy in what she observed. It would be like saying that an NRA member shouldn't honor a friend who was murdered by a thug with a gun, the two things really have nothing to do with eachother.

 

[Luvchefmic]

I have very mixed views on the subject, Yes, for the most part they save lives...I have known several instances where the car was hit in such a way the seatbelt was the issue holding the person in place and was killed as a result.

I do not feel FHP should be able to ticket me on seatbelt infractions when motorcyclists can go helmetless. My not wearing a seatbelt has no impact on any one else.

Big difference law in FL car=seatbelt Motorcycles-no law for helmet... doesn't have to make sense...just the law

 

[mykidsand_i]

I'm sure in MOST states that's the case, isn't it? I believe it's here in most midwestern states too (It's law for car passengers to wear seatbelts- in the front seats or over a certain age for back seats...and yet, it's not law to wear a helmet.)

I actually heard someone complaining about getting several tickets for no seatbelt. They were complaining that they'd gotten so many. Hmm...I wonder what could help that???

 

[iwrbnd]

The other thing that makes me mad about people not wearing their seatbelts is if I accidently hit you and you're hurt way worse than you needed to be I have to deal with the guilt of killing you or seriously hurting you AND my insurance has to pay lots more money to you! If you need lifetime care after our accident and my insurance runs out I will probably be sued to pay for you for the rest of my life! Wear your #$^&% seatbelt people!

 

[lillygator]

well the guy on the motorcycle, helmet or not could come flying in your windshield too as can the kids riding the school bus, no seat belts either but yet, I am required by LAW to wear one. Ridiculous.

 

[C.Ann]

I think it's careless and irresponsible to not wear a seat belt when there is one available.. Not wearing a seat belt definitely has an impact on others - such as your loved ones - who one day may be in the position of grieving an unnecessary loss..

And of course in most states (if not all) it's the law.. Yes - I'm one of those annoying law abiding citizens..

 

[minkydog]

I disagree with this. You must be in your seat in order to have a chance at controlling your car. A seatbelt will keep you in place if you are in an accident. You won't have a chance at controlling your car after you are hit if you slide across the front seat or fly out the window. I am saying a chance, I know it's not a guarantee.

Speaking as someone who experienced a horrifying rollover accident last week (pulling a camper, no less) seatbelts saved all 5 of us. Everything inside the car ended up strewn down the highway.The windows blew out and had we not been belted, someone would have surely been ejected and very likely the car or the camper would have landed on them.

There are probably always going to be the odd accidents where seatbelts did mortal harm, but in the vast majority of accidents seat belts work they way they should, to keep you INSIDE the car and in your own seat. If even one person is not belted, they can injure or kill other people as they hurtle through the windshield. Even if you were to drive into deep water or have some other catastrophic wreck, a seatbelt will keep you where you're supposed to be and keep your safer.

Everyone has different opinions on seat belts. If you choose not to wear one, at least make sure you're an organ donor.

 

[okeydokey]

I couldn't believe it when Florida did away the helmet law. Guess what, since it has become legal to not wear a helmet when driving a motorcycle, the death rate for bike accidents in FL has gone way up.

 

[lillygator]

: If you choose not to wear one, at least make sure you're an organ donor.

....my choice as to the seat belt will never make me choose to be an organ donor.

 

[Lisa loves Pooh]

Big difference law in FL car=seatbelt Motorcycles-no law for helmet... doesn't have to make sense...just the law

I thougth there was a law...not wearing a helmet is fine, but you must have a corresponding high coverage policy. Thought I remembered reading that somewhere.

 

[Lisa loves Pooh]

well the guy on the motorcycle, helmet or not could come flying in your windshield too as can the kids riding the school bus, no seat belts either but yet, I am required by LAW to wear one. Ridiculous.

From a physics perspective, you are in an enclosed vehicle and are safer (statistically) in the vehicle than out of it in the event of a crash...the seatbelt keeps you there and from harming your fellow passengers or as previously stated, other people.

Latching a motorcyclist to a bike--does more harm than good in a collision.

Having him wear a helmet by law would be more comparable with requiring you to wear a helmet in the car.

Race car drivers wear those helmets for a reason. But noone is about to require making you wear one.