I’ve got a reason for taking this informal survey, but choose not to reveal it, just now. I don’t want to influence the survey results.
Let’s see how it goes. Follow along if you’re at all interested.
CSA
My 62 Caddy has no belts. While I could add lap belts, I’ve seen a few studies that concluded that lap belts without shoulder belts are more dangerous than no belts at all. Since the car is a 4 door hardtop, it has no B pillars to anchor a shoulder belt to.
I ALWAYS secure the seat belt / shoulder belt both when driving and riding as a passenger. In fact if I have reason to move my car even a short distance in a parking lot, such as from at a gas pump to parking for the convenience store, I buckle up.
The first we had a car with seat belts was when I was ten years old. Being a typical kid I had a bad habit of unbuckling the seat belt. Then one day we got clobbered hard in parking lot and I went flying hard into the back of the front seat, earning a bruised knee. Lesson learned. I’ve always buckled up ever since.
My trailblazer does not ding ding ding, so seat belts were an occasional thing. Sure I got rear ended, after driving 3 blocks from the hardware store to the propane store rear ended by a guy who had just given blood and blacked out, as I was turning left in the left northbound lane of a 4 lane road with brakes and left turn signal on. I saw him coming up fast 30 mph his estimation in my rear view mirror, no slowdown no changing lane, floored it and still got hit hard enough my hat ended up in the back seat, his car was totaled and airbags deplyed… being the upstanding citizen I am I said no I was not wearing a seat belt. It would not have made a difference I do not think, but know 2 people t-boned who were told if they had the seat belt on, they would be dead. 1 ended up with a broken hip, do not recall the other. I am using my seat belt all the time now just so I do not have to say no sir I was not wearing my seat belt. Accident was Jan 15 2020. My tailpipe is down to 6" off the pavement, trailer hitch has been deemed unsafe,$700 damage they say, used parts for an 03, another shop $1400 new. Got the check for the $700 whatever.
Not since 1964 or so. No seatbelt, no go according to dad. It became ingrained, felt wrong without it on.
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My wife, daughter, son, grand kids and I always wear seat belts / car seats. Have been since seat belts were first introduced. Cheapest and easiest way to protect yourself.
If you want to see a dumb seat belt law watch a garbage truck making it;s rounds the driver has to wear the seat belt but the guy’s hanging on the back doing the work do not.
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I NEVER wore seat belts in a tractor trailer. In city pickup and delivery they were just time consuming and did not add much safety. A tractor trailer does not stop so fast even in an accident that you are going to be thrown violently forward. There are 3 main dangers, Being crushed, intrusion and being thrown from the cab. The seat belt helps the third and is a detriment in the first two.
On the road,all our equipment had air ride seats that moved up and down with some forward and back movement too which greatly improved the ride. However our seat belts were anchored to the floor and door post and not to the seats so every time the seat movement created slack, the seat belt took it up and in 5 or ten minutes it would be cutting you in half. The only way to loosen them was to unbuckle and re-buckle them.
The only dangerous crash I was in, I would have been dead if I had the seat belt on. I was bobtailing down the Thruway about 100 miles to pick up two trailers and two pickup trucks passed me and slammed on their brakes just as they pulled in front of me. One stopped in the right lane and the other on the shoulder. There was faster traffic passing me and a bobtail tractor just won’t stop fast. I went off the road rather than run over and kill one of them with my 15,500 pound tractor. The left rear wheel clipped a drain culvert flipped me over and the first inkling that I was upside down was when the windshield center post turned into an S shape and the windshield exploded.I dove under the heater box on the right side of the cab as the roof came down on the seat I had been sitting in.The seat back metal had gone through my upper left arm but I had left with such force that my arm tore open rather than trapping me.
When seat belts became standard on cars, I tried wearing them but stopped because I drove like a maniac when I had them on. I felt invincible, If I missed something by a half inch, it didn’t bother me at all.
Then came the seat belt laws in our state. When they first passed it . it was not to be a primary offense. They could not stop you for not having a belt on.
Bureaucrats and politicians always lie, and always like new revenue sources. They justify that by saying they are doing it for our own good. I will look out for my own good and I wish they would mind their own business. Almost 70 years of driving, over 3 million miles and I have never been in a situation where a seat belt would have done me any good. I don’t drink o, smoke or do drugs and I pay close attention a long way down the road.
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I use one pretty much all the time although in the old days I never did., Back then lap belts were about it.
My 59 Corvette had lap belts but were not in use by either me or my friend the night I broadsided a Chevy pickup at 50 MPH.
The amazing part is that while the car was wiped to oblivion neither one of us suffered so much as even a tiny bruise or scratch.
I always use mine. It’s just a habit now. I start the car, put the belt on, and put it in gear. I don’t go anywhere until everyone has also fastened their belts. Back in the 60’s our cars had belts and Dad would always pester about wearing them.
My 59 VW did not have belts and when I got T boned, half of my seat was crushed. I think I just slid over on the seat. Probably would have been hurt more with a belt on. Still the next week when my replacement was a 59 Pontiac, the first thing I did was have belts put in.
There have been a number of kids and others killed around here when they are thrown out of their car on a roll over and would have been just fine with a belt on. So yeah I always use them. If I still drove a car on a frozen lake though, I would not use the belt so I could jump out without delay.
I had a friend who in her later years had a condition that made wearing seat belts medically dangerous for her. She carried a letter from her doctor and an official seat belt waiver from the DMV.
I have another friend who never wears the seat belt when driving but will buckle up as a passenger in other people’s vehicles when asked to. He’s never given details but I’ve got the impression he actually knew someone who died in an accident when trapped by a seat belt.
I’ve known several EMTs, paramedics, firefighters, and police officers all who have said they’ve seen many accident victims severely injured or killed from not wearing seat belts but only rare cases when being buckled up caused more harm than good.
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I always wear the seat belt, whether as driver or as passenger, and I require anyone riding with me to wear theirs as well. I can’t believe there are still people who think it is smart to not wear their seat belt?
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I’ve been wearing a seat belt religiously for more than 40 years.
Though I do admit that back in the 60s, I removed the belts from several vehicles because they were “in the way”.
Always wear mine. Always make my passengers wear theirs.
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I always use my seatbelt–except when I am driving from the gas pumps at Costco to my parking space so that I can go shopping inside the store.
My reasoning is that, because I have been able to drive for the past 50 years/600k miles with no accidents whatsoever, I should be able to traverse a few hundred feet–at about 15 mph–in that parking lot without incident. So, in essence, I have decided that putting the belt on, only to remove it about 30 seconds later, is a waste of effort.
Other than this one situation, I always use the belt.
I always wear one, I likely would’ve been killed years ago in a rollover accident in my buddies Jimmy if I hadn’t had it on. My wife and kids always wear them as well, and if I am transporting you in my vehicle, you can either put it on or you can walk
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I’m uncomfortable if I don’t have my seat belt on. And it’s saved my butt more then once.
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Heh heh. Last night I made a night deposit at the bank and then drove to the ATM. They are in different drive-through lanes, so I unbelted to be able to open the door for the deposit, then belted again to drive around the corner for the drive up ATM in another lane. Not that I’m afraid of killing myself driving around the corner, but my luck I’d get stopped and get a ticket. The Police station is a block away.
Having my car towed 50 miles once, the tow driver didn’t have his belt on. I don’t remember if he had a Ford or a Chev but think Ford. I asked him why as we drove through heavy traffic at freeway speeds, and he said the steering column would be like a spear in a front collision so his plan is to hit the floor in that event.
More often than not I buckle up but I don’t feel compelled to do so. But I grew up and learned to drive when REAL MEN smoked Marlboro and seat belts were for sissies. You know, back when lung cancer and wrecks were considered “natural causes” for death.
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I won’t let anyone ride in my car without their belts fastened. The fine here is $178 for the first infraction.
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