If you don’t care enough about yourself to wear a seatbelt, this might give you something to think about.
My ER doctor buddies have a great term for people who don’t wear seat belts (or motorcycle helmets)
Organ donors
Back around 1960, I had an old Chevrolet. The local J.C.'s had a seat belt installation day. I went and had the front belts installed. They drilled a hole in the floor, and put a big washer on the under side of the floor, to hold the belts down. I have never been without seat belts since that day, in the US. Here, there is an old 1976 pickup that has no belts, and I have to ride in it as passenger at times.
Sorry, but I thought that was ridiculous. And I’m incredibly tired of the seat belt fanaticism. I live in a state that spends I don’t want to know how much on “click it or ticket” campaigning while its DMV driving instruction booklet doesn’t spend so much as a sentence on how to use a limited access highway. This is totally bass-ackwards.
I’ve heard the “public interest” arguments about seat belts. But in the end, lets face it. This really isn’t a pubic issue. My mom stopped telling what me what to do when I hit 18. Am I supposed to thank the nanny state for stepping in in her place?
Gee, I hope someone from the health department comes in soon to inspect my fridge. I’d really like someone to monitor my red meat intake.
And just in case anyone wonders, back when I was a teenager I was driving home from work late one night. I wasn’t wearing a seat belt. It wasn’t such a paranoia craze back then. But I was driving along and it occurred to me that I was flying through the air sitting in a chair at 65mph sitting directly behind a chunk of glass. Nutty I thought. I’ve been wearing my seat belt ever since. I started on motorcycles when I was 5 and still won’t ride without a helmet. But you know what? Its still no one else’s business.
You are correct, cigroller.
It is nobody else’s business.
However, none of us is actually immune to the effects of someone else’s irresponsible behavior. Consider that your medical insurance costs, and mine, and everyone else’s, are impacted (no pun intended) by the vastly increased hospital fees incurred by those who sustain serious injuries as a result of failure to use seat belts.
It is very easy to assume that nobody else is affected when someone exercises poor judgment and fails to “buckle-up”. But, to use an old expression, “No man is an island”. When those folks are seriously injured as a result of their own negligence, we all pay for it.
Yes, as I said, I know the “public interest” arguments. So I’m not sure why you felt a need to reiterate it for me. But thanks for the lecture.
The problem is that if you want to take it this far we now have to do a radical reorganization of everything. Cars are - seatbelts and airbags or not - still the most dangerous way to travel. So if we want to minimize the costs to the public then we must abandon cars altogether. Right next to that we’ll impose limits on the amount of salt in the diet, fat intake, red meat…oh, and no more grilling meats. The buildup of carcinogens on grills and then transferred to the meats is too much. No more peanut butter either. The mold it grows is highly carcinogenic. No more skiing or snowboarding. Forget boating, surfing and scuba diving. Oh, and we better call the NFL and put a stop to that Super Bowl. We don’t want anybody getting hurt. The bonus effect of canceling the Super Bowl is that with the big reduction in parties we’ll get less germ transfer from all of those shared snack bowls and stuff - keep the rate of illness down.
The thing is that once you take the argument about my personal health & safety and streeeeeeeeetch that to be a matter of the public good there is no place to stop. And it is a stretch. If people want to find serious things having to do with how choices impact the public good, you can look at the tailpipe of the car, for instance. You can also look at how the car is actually operated, and impose things like speed limits. But looking inside of the car at whether I’m strapped in or not? Ok. You can do it if you want. But there isn’t anyplace to stop after that. Put us all in a plastic sterilized bubble.
Right On, Right On, Right On, Cigroller ! I wear A Seat Belt Every Time I Drive And A Helmet To Operate A Motorcycle, But I Don’t Need Anybody Or Anything To Help Me.
The worst example of this type of crap pertains to the operation of my Sea-Doo. It is actually an inboard powered watercraft and is registered, insured (comp, collision, liability) and has a fire extiguisher onboard (as silly as that requirement is - I’d either jump off or roll it in the event of fire) and I always wear a Coast Guard approved Type 1 PFD while riding.
PWCs, in my estimation, are the best rescue devices going, in the event that a boater or swimmer must be rescued fast, and I keep mine ready to go if I see trouble or hear of it on my scanner. You can go very fast and maneuver in adverse wave conditions and even run over a victim without chopping them up.
However, current law keeps me from operating at night, like I can with my inboard boat, outboard boats, and sailboats. Why ? I think this started because the original PWCs were very noisy (Kawasaki Jet-Ski - exhaust above water) and a group of people didn’t like them. Also, under-aged and drunk idiots run into docks and boats and through swimming ares with them.
So, lets just pass another punitive law , even though law abiding folks ride PWCs that are quieter and safer than anything other than a canoe or sailboat. That’s easier and more convenient than enforcing the myriad of laws that exist for the. We do this for the common good (Marx).
To single out one particular type of outboard boat and limit its owner’s use of it is ridiculous. I have many friends who have become outlaws because they ride their PWCs when they dxxx well feel like it.
CSA
My personal opinion: If someone is dumb enough not to wear their seat belt, they are prima-facie incompetent to drive and should not be allowed on the road.
many good points made in this discussion. i would add a safety belt may allow the driver to maintain better control in a low speed accident. if the belt kept the driver behind the wheel, the driver might maneuver the car away from pedestrians or oncoming traffic.
other areas of government involvement in auto industry.
TPMS Tire Pressure Monitoring Systems are now mandated on new cars. This started from all the SUV roll overs in years past. Does this system decrease accidents?
EPA strict emmission standards are now causing manufacturers to install non serviceable fuel pumps inside gas tanks. If the pump needs replacing, the whole tank will be replaced: very expensive and a problem for the shops to get rid of tanks.
Rear video cameras are being mandated to decrease drivers from running over kids and pets. But will the less affluent be able to afford this modern cars?
The reason I didn’t like the video is that I thought it was goopy-cheesy. I had to clean the Velveeta off of my keyboard by the time it was done playing.
The primary reason I’d put above all others regarding why I don’t like the seatbelt policing - whether formal or informal - is that it doesn’t come with any attention whatsoever to the real things that make the roads a dangerous place. For the last year or two I have periodically sent feedback to my state’s DOT. The feedback basically says that they spend all of their time scolding people about seatbelts and speeding while it is perfectly obvious to me that almost none of the danger I encounter on the roads everyday has the slightest bit to do with either one. If people want the roadways to be safer all of the time and attention - both formal and informal - should go to better driver’s ed information.
And if you “real” intent was only to “educate” the non-seatbelt wearer then you wouldn’t have bothered to post here. You and I have both been around long enough to know that this board is full of a bunch of safety fanatics. All you have here is the choir.
Many Unbelted Drivers And Passengers, Who Would Sometimes Escape Injury, Are Killed Or Maimed When They Get Ejected And Make It 1/2 Way Out Of A “Rolling” Vehicle Before It Rolls On Top Of Them.
CSA
I’ve always thought that TV advertisements were great visual Art, except utilized to get you to part with your hard earned $. This ad seems like a work of art (The use of the word “embrace”, for example, in a triple entendre): except that its purpose is to save lives, apparently, instead of getting you to buy some product.
I continually forget to put on my seatbelt when I get in my car. I figure, the next red light. Then I’ve driven all the way to work w/o the belt on. Thanks for putting this up, Whitey.
Seat belts are worth their weight in gold, even though some other “safety features” may not be.
My dad was a great advocate of seat belts long before seat belts were standard equipment. The first new car he purchased after WW II was a 1960 Rambler. He insisted, as part of the deal that seat belts be installed. Three years later, my mother and brother were making a 350 mile trip to visit me at the campus where I was a graduate student. A semi didn’t stop and rear ended the Rambler. It hit so hard that the car buckled and the engine went into the radiator. All but one door was jammed shut. My mother and brother escaped uninjured. Had the car not been equipped with seat belts, they would likely have had severe injuries or worse. The Rambler was replaced with a 1963 Studebaker Lark. This car came equipped with front seat belts–my Dad had the dealer install rear seat belts as part of the deal.
Every car I have ever owned has had seat belts. When I purchased my first car, a 1947 Pontiac, in 1961, my dad insisted that I install seatbelts. I paid $75 for the car and before I even took it on the road, I spent $25, one third the cost of the car on safety equipment–seat belts and turning signals. Turning signals were not standard equipment back in 1947.
Maybe I am the exception. I hit a car that turned in front of me as I was going 45 mph. His response, no officer the light was green, I turn left and he hit me. Scrape on head from breaking wind shield and a sore knee from hitting the headlight on off knob. I had 2 friends that were t boned on the drivers side, 1 with broken hip and 1 with bruises. The officer in both cases said if they had had their seat belt on they would be dead. Last week a bud in his Saturn got rear ended. He had his seat belt on. As a passenger the air bags did not deploy when hit from the rear. His head it the wind shield and broke it when they hit the car in front of them. the air bags then deployed and his wife is suffering asthma symptoms from the powder in the air bags. I am not saying do not wear your seat belt, but don’t think it is a life saver in all situations. I am really lax about seat belt use, and wonder at the hoax that I in a car can get a ticket for not wearing a seat belt while a guy next to me on a motorcycle with no helmet, shorts, no shirt and sandals is legal.
I thought the ad was embarassingly corny and it also makes me wonder who is behind this ad and how much, if any, taxpayer dollars were used to produce it.
Personally, I wear a seat belt but I’m also against seat belt laws, motorcycle helmet laws, etc.
Along the same lines, I’ve never smoked a cigarette in my life but those anti-smoking ads and government intrusion into whether someone participates in that activity also disgusts me.
Exactly Right, OK4450.
Also These Types Of Feel Good, Do-Gooder Campaigns Go Against Mother Nature, Natural Selection, And Survival Of The Fittest. I Say That Everybody Knows The Belts Are There, So MYOB.
I too, have never smoked a cigarette in my life, but if somebody wants to it’s fine with me. Complain about something that others enjoy and you don’t, and the next thing you know, you’ll be the target for something you enjoy that others don’t like. MYOB.
Who does pay for this ad ?
CSA
I don’t like “nanny-statism,” and I never have. I wear my belt 98% of the time, but I don’t think the law has any business devoting manpower, and writing tickets for this sort of stuff so long as there are unsolved murders, rapes, etc that they could be devoting manpower to.
I do think, however, that the motorist who chooses to drive unbelted should be held partly liable for his/her own injuries. I’d like to see wholesale seatbelt law repeal, coupled with some sort of cap/waiver of liability for damages caused to a knowingly unbelted driver.
Seat belt laws actually came about as a compromise with the insurance companies. Insurance companies for years have been trying to be allowed to deny coverage to any individuals hurt in an accident if they were NOT wearing their seat belt - EVEN IF IT WAS THE OTHER PERSONS FAULT. The law makers knew if that happened then WE the tax payers would be footing the ER and physical therapy bill for these people.
Insurance companies are still trying to get this passed.
And personally I don’t like being told I have to wear a belt (although I ALWAYS do). I don’t mind the advertising for public awareness.
I bet if the insurance companies could deny coverage for their insured not wearing their seat belt, I bet you would see tens of thousands of claims initially denied for “Injuries consistent with those suffered from non-use of vehicle restraint devices” even if the seat belts were used.
Then the poor person would then have to fight their insurance company, while trying to recover from their injuries, AND while trying to get the hospital and their collection agencies off of their backs.
No good would come of that.
BC.
Wusy ads like this convince
- no one -
to wear their belts.
A complete waste of time and money.
The true convincing comes from real world accident photography and surveilance video ( not scripted and staged ) of actual accident results.
An in-your-face, no holds barred, no PC pussy footing ad is the only thing that will actually do it. ( they’re doing that with anti-smoking ads )
Then I take that mindset and convince the kids by showing them some first hand driving circumstances like stomping on the brakes and swerving.
After that I simply park the car.
If that doesn’t do it,
There’s nothing more convincing
– NOTHING –
Than me and my wife having witnessed a fatal accident first hand in which an un-belted back seat child DIED !!! From free flowing traffic to a dying child in his mothers bloody arms, we saw the whole thing. This will leave you shaking in your drivers seat every time.
The full story gets told ( tears rolling down my cheeks ) to anyone riding in MY vehicles who refuses to buckle up.
"Why wear your belt ?? I’ll tell you why right now. " Put the truck in park, take out the key and stare them down eye to eye…
---- You buckle up in my trucks or you walk ! ---------
( Oh yah, I dont need some LAW to tell me this. )