Why don't people wear their seat belts?

[Seth8530]

agreed

[Sailor Steve]

I always wear a belt, just as I always wear a helmet when I ride. While I think anybody who doesn't wear one is an idiot, I also stand squarely against seat belt and helmet laws.

[Morts]

Originally Posted by Sailor Steve

I always wear a belt, just as I always wear a helmet when I ride. While I think anybody who doesn't wear one is an idiot, I also stand squarely against seat belt and helmet laws.

I honestly dont have a problem with seatbet and helmet laws.
As one of my friends explained at airsoft to someone who wanted to use shooting glasses (?? google translate, think Oakley M frames),
sure, you can say "I do this, and im responsible for the outcome", but that doesnt take the guilt away from the other person when he shoots his eye out.
It's the same with the seatbelts/helmets, sure, he isnt responsible for the other person not wearing it and dying as a result, but i doubt that takes away the feeling of guilt after an accident.

[Herr-Berbunch]

I'm 100% certain that I wouldn't be here if I didn't wear a seatbelt. Rollbar helped too, but definitely the seatbelt.

And I always wear a bike helmet, they may not be perfect but they're obviously going to help over nothing!

[Sailor Steve]

Originally Posted by Morts

I honestly dont have a problem with seatbet and helmet laws.

I agree about the guilt part, but it's not my place to make someone else be safe from himself. I can think of several places where similar laws could be enacted, but others might think were extreme. I also believe that such laws aren't about safety but control.

Originally Posted by Herr-Berbunch

I'm 100% certain that I wouldn't be here if I didn't wear a seatbelt. Rollbar helped too, but definitely the seatbelt.

And I always wear a bike helmet, they may not be perfect but they're obviously going to help over nothing!

I'm also certain that a seatbelt saved my life. That said, I still believe it's wrong to protect adults from themselves.

[Schroeder]

@Sailor Steve

A person who doesn't wear his seatbelt will be thrown around inside the car in case of an accident. If the person sits on one of the rear seats they might fly through the whole car and kill the people on the other seats as well. That's why I say that everybody HAS to buckle up. If not for his safety then for the safety of the other passengers.
Then there is the problem with group pressure: "You want to wear a seat belt, ohhh you're such a wimpy baby...". This would keep a lot of the younger drivers from using seatbelts and this group is especially prone to get involved in accidents.

On a secondary note a young death costs the society a lot of money. People went to school for years, parents got tax cuts etc. A person must have worked for several years to pay back what society has spend on them before they could work and so I think the society has a right to tell them to prevent some unnecessary early deaths by using a seatbelt.

@Ducimus
Yeah, it's also beyond me why a lot of people don't use them. When we drive to a local restaurant for lunch where I work a lot of my colleagues don't use their seatbelts which is especially stupid as they have cars with airbags (have fun facing those when not wearing a seatbelt....).
When it's my turn to drive I've always have to remind them that the seatbelts are paid for and can be used free of charge....

[Sailor Steve]

Originally Posted by Schroeder

@Sailor Steve

A person who doesn't wear his seatbelt will be thrown around inside the car in case of an accident. If the person sits on one of the rear seats they might fly through the whole car and kill the people on the other seats as well. That's why I say that everybody HAS to buckle up. If not for his safety then for the safety of the other passengers.

And your point is? First, by the time a belt is needed the car is already out of control and the belt is the only option left. Second, what I need to do to protect myself is my business, not yours.

Everybody HAS to buckle up? If you really believed in automobile safety then you would be insisting that every car built comes with a full NASCAR-approved roll cage, five-point racing harness and the everyone in the car wear a helmet.

As I said, I always wear a belt and insist that anyone who rides in my car wear theirs as well. Seat-belt laws, however, are not about being safe. They're about mandating that others fit your belief that they should be safe. You have a right to guarantee your own safety, which is why cars come with belts. You have absolutely no right to force others to be safe from themselves.

[Blood_splat]

My dad has a phobia of being strapped into seatbelts after being blown off an APC in Vietnam. We always had to remind him to put his seatbelt on. Here in Michigan motorcycle riders don't have to wear helmets now. I think their insurance goes up though.

[mookiemookie]

Originally Posted by Herr-Berbunch

I'm 100% certain that I wouldn't be here if I didn't wear a seatbelt.

The firemen who cut me out of my mangled car that night 10 years ago told me that. I never go without my seatbelt and never have.

Originally Posted by Sailor Steve

I also believe that such laws aren't about safety but control.

I don't know about it being about control, but it's definitely about raising revenue. Laws don't prevent anything - they only enact penalties for breaking them. Given that, they can't be about control by definition. Just because they made a seatbelt law doesn't mean that everyone wears them. But anyone who is caught not wearing one is assessed a hefty fine. The fact that it makes people safer is a good side effect and makes it more politically palatable and an easier sell to voters rather than calling it what it is: a scheme for the local governments to make money.

[Onkel Neal]

Originally Posted by Sailor Steve

I always wear a belt, just as I always wear a helmet when I ride. While I think anybody who doesn't wear one is an idiot, I also stand squarely against seat belt and helmet laws.

Same here, cept I disagree vigourously about being against seat belt and helmet laws. I'm for them, 100% People need to be protected...against their own stupidity.

[antikristuseke]

I disagree with mandatory helmet laws but agree with seatbelt ones.

The reason is simple, if you crash a bike without a helmet you are no more of a risk to others than with a helmet. Crash a car without wearing your seatbelt and you will become a safety risk for others because you become a projectile.

[Stealhead]

Originally Posted by antikristuseke

I disagree with mandatory helmet laws but agree with seatbelt ones.

The reason is simple, if you crash a bike without a helmet you are no more of a risk to others than with a helmet. Crash a car without wearing your seatbelt and you will become a safety risk for others because you become a projectile.

And what of the person who was not wearing a helmet and and they suffer brain damage and now society has to pay for their care not to mention the increase in insurance costs that everyone gets to share. People do not die in every motorbike crash even the ones not wearing helmets.

Sure motorcycles are dangerous but much more so without a helmet there are accidents that wearing a helmet will save your life or save you from permanent disabling head injuries or from your face getting skinned off by the road.It cant save you from everything just like a seat belt can not but would you think a solider was stupid for not wearing every bit of armor possible even though it can not stop everything either better something than nothing.

the way I see if an event has a good chance of occurring you might as well protect yourself as much as possible there are plenty of vehicle accidents so such a thing is likely.A cop or solider is much more likely to get shot at than the average Joe so might as well wear body armor.

[antikristuseke]

That is an indirect thing, though I see your point. Then again some times the gene pool needs a bit of chlorine, if that is by peoples own action and choise so much the better.

[Stealhead]

Originally Posted by antikristuseke

That is an indirect thing, though I see your point. Then again some times the gene pool needs a bit of chlorine, if that is by peoples own action and choise so much the better.

So you want some guy that is stupid enough to not wear a helmet suffer brain damage now he cant work and he will collect disability for the rest of his life perhaps need care as well now some form of insurance must cover all this so via taxes or private insurance you will get to pay for his mistake to some extent.

I'd rather have laws that stop at least some from doing what is described above and let disease and DNA itself do its work.

Also nearly every person on this planet has done at least one stupid thing in their life that might have killed them so if doing a foolish thing that may harm or kill yourself is worthy of your genes being removed from the pool then we would not be around.

[Onkel Neal]

Originally Posted by antikristuseke

I disagree with mandatory helmet laws but agree with seatbelt ones.

The reason is simple, if you crash a bike without a helmet you are no more of a risk to others than with a helmet. Crash a car without wearing your seatbelt and you will become a safety risk for others because you become a projectile.

It's not all just about the risk to the individual. I guarantee you over 50% of MC riders have no kind of insurance to cover the medical bills when they crack their skulls. You and I are paying from them.

Now, if we agree to a system where the first responders check the injured party for insurance, I would be ok with no helmet law.

"He looks pretty bad, broken leg, shoulder, probable concussion and head injuries. Bob, check his driver's license, does he have the medical insurance box checked?"

"No, George, he does not. Apparently he can afford a $28,000 Harley, $40 HD shirt, $20 doo-rag, and some pretty extensive tattoo work, but he didn't think it was important to pay for insurance or a helmet."

"Ah, well, let's go. (shouts at downed rider) Good luck, buddy!"