Do you wear seat belts ?

[ptcruiser51]

Absolutely!

I tried and tried to get my parents to wear them. No dice. "We never drive very far". My OM also couldn't see past the hood ornament. Finally he had a low-speed head-on 1 mile from the house; the airbags saved him, though he was pretty banged-up. Fortunately my OL wasn't in the car and the other driver wasn't hurt. Problem solved: Car demolished, state yanked his license.

Still, when he's in MY car, the OM unhooks himself at the first opportunity: 2 blocks from the house or destination.

Stubbornness never dies.

 

[hooverwheelaway]

Definitely!

I remember being in junior high/freshman in high school... it was kind of liberating to rebel and not wear them when driving around with friends (stupid, I know) -- even though my parents sternly enforced them in their cars. But at one point -- perhaps driver's education -- I just felt it necessary to always wear one. Now it's to the point where I feel naked without one when in a car... and I enforce wearing seat belts when transporting others in my car.

Not wearing a seat belt is stupid.

 

[whirlcool]

Since I am a pilot, I have always worn seat belts since 1969 or so. I only had one accident (rear ended from behind) and it probably saved me. Besides, I feel naked if I don't have one on.

One of the problems we do have is that just before take off, the flight attendants walk down the aisle to see if everyone has their seat belt fastened and their tray tables up. You wouldn't believe how many people unfasten their seatbelts after that. The F/A's hear all kind of excuses:
I don't want my dress wrinkled
It makes me feel claustrophobic (uncomfortable, queasy, etc)
Oh, I don't have time for that nonsense

Or the best one......
"If we crash, I'll just put my hands out and hold on".

 

[MrX]

Always!

Wearing your seatbelt's compulsory here in Ireland.

Driver along with front and rear seat passengers are legally required to wear one and the driver is responsible for all of his/her passengers. If any of them are not wearing seat belts, the driver gets fined.

It's a 60 Euro (US$76) fixed penalty (you can pay within 28 days online or at the post office).
If you don't pay for up to 56 days, it becomes 90 Euro (US$114).
You also get 2 penalty points* on your driving license.

Alternatively, you can refuse to pay the fixed penalty and opt to go to court. If you are convicted in court, you can get up to 4 penalty points and the fine can be up to 400 Euro (US$508)

You're also required to provide appropriate child seats / restraints and booster cushions and have them fitted in accordance with regulatory requirements for any small children traveling in the car.

Similar regulations apply to taxis, with the only difference being that the passenger can be fined for not wearing their seat belt. However, the taxi driver's responsible for anyone under 18 and he/she will be fined in that case.
Taxis aren't required to provide baby seats.

School busses and most long-distance busses are now fitted with seat belts and where they are fitted you're required to use them. The traffic police occasionally do spot checks and you can be fined for not wearing them. The bus driver's also required by law to announce that passengers must wear the belts.

*The penalty points system applies to 69 driving and license offenses and if you accumulate 12 points your license is cancelled for 6 months and you have to re-qualify after that.

It uses the slogan "Get the point, not the points!"

The fixed charge + points are used for minor offenses. If you're charged with serious offenses like drink driving, dangerous driving (including speeding really excessively), breech of duties at scene of an accident, driving without insurance etc etc you would be arrested, charged and you'd have to appear in court as normal.

 

[volvoguy87]

Volvo seat belts.

Volvo introduced the 1st 3-Point seat belts in 1959 on the PV544 and 122 cars (front seats only). The rear seats didn't get 3 point seat belts until 1972 on the 144, 142, 145, and 164 models. I think Ford was the first to market a seat belt, it was an optional piece of equipment and consisted of a lap belt in the front seat. I have no idea if they had them in the back. I believe Ford introduced them in 1956, to a very poor reception.

People are amazed that my Volvo 240 from 1987 has 3 point seat belts in the back seat (the middle seat still has only a lap belt though). Most manufacturers still used lap belts in 1987 in the back seats.

Wear 'em!
Dave

 

[yogitunes]

ALWAYS have since I got my license....I liked my Eagle Talon Turbo with the AUTOMATIC belts that slid up and over your shoulder when you closed the door, all cars should have this

We now have a law not just for the driver but also the passengers themselves can get a fine for not wearing them, I'm game for children in car seats, but they miss the fun we had as children riding in the far back of a stationwagon, but in the event of a rear collision, child safety is a big concern.

 

[countryguy]

Not wearing a seat belt is a primary offense then here in Canada. The police even have seat belt road checks just like drinking & driving road checks. They like to position themselves at the on ramps to the highways and if you aren't wearing your seat belt you are pulled over.

Gary

 

[hunter]

Primary vs. Secondary

A primary offense means that an officer may stop you for that and that alone.

A secondary offense means that if you are stopped for other reasons, you may also be cited for not wearing a seat belt.

Not to throw petrol on a blaze, but the whole flack and furor about Arizona's immigration law is rather odd; it says that if you stop someone for a DIFFERENT offense you MAY inquire as to their citizenry status.

In general, things like seatbelt laws are wrong as primary offenses because it is pretty darn hard to see if someone has his seat belt on while driving down the street. This therefore empowers law enforcement with the excuse that "I noted the driver was not wearing a seat belt so I engaged my blue lights, pursued, and pulled the car over."

I'm one of the few libertarian cops I know -- and I'm no longer active. And I couldn't bear the idea of a primary stop for seatbelts as you cannot tell easily!

But it is a great excuse that can open the door to other abuses.

 

[ronhic]

Hunter....

....I completely disagree with you on the point of primary offense for seat belt wearing...

As in Ireland, Canada and the UK, failure to wear a belt here is a 'primary' style offense....'Click Clack, front and back' was the advert here in the 1980's...but it has been law to wear a belt when fitted since the mid 1970's...

....and compulsory fitment of belts in the rear since 1972, though manufacturers such as Volvo and BMC (British Motor Corporation - Morris/Austin et.al) did fit much earlier...1964 in the case of the Morris 1100....

...just the thought that someone could even think in this day and age that being both forced to wear a belt 'by law' and/or that being able to be pulled over and fined as the primary offense is wrong, is in itself, wrong. Failure to wear a belt, which is better safety device than an airbag and certainly makes an airbag more effective, is akin to playing Russian roulette with your life AND has the potential to have any person who happens to have an accident with a non-wearer who dies, guilty of manslaughter - accidental death...which could possibly have been prevented....

Yep, sorry, but I am passionate about seat belt laws....I nearly lost 2 members of my family many years ago because the car hadn't been fitted with them (early 1960's Holden)...she went through the windscreen and their son at 5 months hit the dash board!)....

 

[bugsyjones]

I wear seatbelts. It has sort of become habit. It takes two seconds to do it.

I see it all the time on the news or read it in the paper:

4 Dead, 1 injured in turnpike accident.

"the four passengers were pronounced dead at the scene. None were wearing seat belts. The driver is at So-and-So Hospital in critical condition. The driver WAS wearing a seat belt."

It seems like I read the same lines over and over. Almost all surviors of the car accidents were wearing saftey belts.

I don't think twice about driving without one.

~Tim

 

[MrX]

Here's our seat-belt awareness advertising campaign

This is the seat-belt awareness campaign advert in Ireland. It's co-produced for the Road Safety Authority in the Republic and Department of the Environment in the North.

This is run every now and again during prime time television hours and in cinemas (movie theaters) in Ireland.

Before your view this, I would just warn you that if you easily shocked by scenes of a car crash, please do not watch.

This is a public safety message, and it intended to be quite shocking.

I was just wondering are there similar campaigns elsewhere?

 

[xraytech]

I always wear my seat belt, and if I have a passenger in th efront seat they must too, and that is because my Lincoln has a weight sensor in the seat and it constantly dings if someone is there and not buckled in. In the back seat I dont really care if you wear a seat belt or not, if you dont it's your stupidity, not mine.

As for seatbelt laws, I dont think it should be a mandatory thing, In Pennsylvania seat belts are mandatory but wearing a helmet on a motorcycle is voluntary, so I feel that if a motorcyclist has a choice, I should too even though I wear a seatbelt.

 

[MrX]

The issue is that if you're not wearing your seatbelt in a car, you can also kill other passengers / the driver as you're thrown around the vehicle in an accident.

Motorcycle helmets are compulsory here, although push-bike helmets aren't for some reason.

 

[hydralique]

One other significant advantage to not being thrown about the car is that the driver will remain in front of the controls, and passengers will not be in his lap. Multiple-impact accidents do happen. If the driver isn't belted and gets thrown into the passenger's seat by the first impact there is no possibility of him ever regaining any semblance of control over the car, and increases the chance of hitting another vehicle or pedestrian. For this reason alone belt wearing should be compulsory.

 

[appnut]

Always!!! I think our 1964 Pontiac Catalina had them and I wore them. I know for sure the 1966 Impala SS did and I wore them as did the 1966 Chrysler Newport. The last care I consciously remember NOT having belts in was the 1960 Kingwood Estate Chevy wagon. To this day, I'm thankful we never had a wreck in that car and we went on so many trips between Houston and Dallas in that car and I just marvel at the thought we never had a wreck.

 

[ronhic]

In the back seat I dont really care if you wear a seat belt

Xray...

Well sort of...

Unfortunately, if a box of kleenex weighing 1/2lb on the rear shelf can get enough momentum to crack a windscreen or kill a driver, imagine what a 200lb unbelted adult can do when they come hurtling into the back of YOUR drivers seat as you come to a dead stop - fast....

...none of us want to be, at best, a quadraplegic because one of OUR passengers didn't wear a seatbelt....so to say you don't care is a tad harsh on your own health...

 

[sudsmaster]

It's so much of a habit with me...

That when I won a car at a charity raffle, I got to drive it off the awards platform. As soon as I got in the car, I instinctively fastened the seat/shoulder belt. The emcee got a big laugh out of that. Screw him.

 

[mrb627]

In Georgia---

The commercial/ PSA is "Click-It or Ticket"

Malcolm

 

[whitekingd]

Do I wear my seat belt?

Absolutely!! Should it be required by law? NO.

 

[nurdlinger]

PTCruiser reminded me...

My Dad was another grew-up-in-the-depression, served-in-WWII, rugged individualist. Here's what happened on his last outing as an automobile driver. Low-speed impact with a tree. Continued next message...