Maine weighs revoking seat belt law days after 75-car pileup

Ill always wear mine to, but I don't feel it should be a law, same goes for helmets. Needs to be some form of population control

 

That would only work in the same people could be refused care at ERs for injuries sustained in the wrecks...

 

I drove for 20 years and never used a seatbelt, including a million miles in a semi. After it became law, for the last 20 years, I've used one ever since, and don't even think about it. I still see people driving without one, not too often, though, mostly older drivers. The biggest hazard is being thrown out of the vehicle without one.

 

I always drop my cell phone and reach around and lay mine across my body till the bear goes by then place belt back on the side of the seat and pick up cell phone and get back to texting and TTR...

 

bigdogpile, I got to tell ya', I think you have the funniest handle here.

 

I don't know what they think this will help, except they wouldn't have to cut the seatbelts to get people out of the vehicle. We wear ours and it is second nature, you just don't feel right with it off. In the old days it was who gives a hoot if you wear one or not, but with so many accidents where the person might have lived just if, it changes your mind about not wearing them.

 

I am not picking on or attacking you, just using your quote as a starting point for my rant. For background, I grew up riding on the dog house of my dad's Diamond Reo or on a bean bag between the seats of the old GMC, no seat belts or car seats as a child.

It is not about helping anything, it is a small measure of reduction in the government over reach that has become all so common today. Yes, seat belts make sense just like motorcycle helmets do, but as an adult I should not have to forced to wear one because it is law. In my opinion, New Hampshire is the only state to get it right, under 18 buckle up over 18 it is your choice. Simply put, as an adult I should be free to choose to engage in risky business as long as it does not endanger anyone else, and my choice to not use a seat belt will not harm anyone else in a crash, just me.

It drives me crazy that in my home state of Pennsylvania I can ride a motorcycle without a helmet, leather, or any other means of protection but put me inside an engineered crumple box (modern car) and I have to strap myself in and have multiple air bags all around me. It just does not make any sense to me. Yes, seat belts work, especially when combined with airbags, but again I am more than capable of calculating the risk and deciding appropriately. For the record, I do wear my belt but as a tow truck operator and first responder I have seen several accidents where the victim could have survived or had less injury if they had not been belted in, so it is not always safer to be belted in, but most of the time it is.

 

Insurance companies fought for seat belt laws more then government wanted to enact them. Seat belts have reduced insurance costs significantly wether you want to accept this or not. You can say that's BS, rates are too high regardless and ever-increasing, but if all of the sudden there was a 20% increase in the number of accident victims who were not wearing seat belts during serious crashes, you can bet rates would jump because payout costs would rise dramatically. Both health and life policies.

Insurance companies (underwriters) presently operate under the assumption 95% will be wearing seatbelts. If they have to change that to say, 86%, that means rate increases across the board, regardless if you claim to be a "set belt wearer" or not.

While I agree with darwinism (let the less intelligent unwittingly cull themselves out of the gene pool), the stupid actions of a few often affect the rest, usually in terms of insurance costs because we all pooled together to compile risk analysis data. Its kind of like HOA's they are created to insure one or two don't come into a neighborhood, trash their property, and initiate the rapid devaluation of the entire neighborhood.

Doesn't do a lot of good to create cars/trucks with better occupant protection in the even of serious crash if they're just going to fly around in the vehicle or be ejected from the vehicle.

 

A seatbelt can keep a person behind the wheel and give them a better chance of controlling the vehicle. Choosing not to wear a seatbelt could effect someone else's life so I'm not opposed to seat belt laws.

A motorcycle helmet is a different story, I think that should be a choice.