Seat belts....do you always "buckle-up for safety"

That bolded sentence is mythical. Here's something real for you:

They who can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety. - Benjamin Franklin
Freedom is not worth having if it does not include the freedom to make mistakes. - Mahatma Gandhi
When a man is denied the right to live the life he believes in, he has no choice but to become an outlaw. - Nelson Mandela
Freedom lies in being bold. - Robert Frost

And of particular interest:

I am free, no matter what rules surround me. If I find them tolerable, I tolerate them; if I find them too obnoxious, I break them. I am free because I know that I alone am morally responsible for everything I do. - Robert Heinlein

 

Somebody earlier raised an interesting point. Something about if you get bounced out of the seat, you have no control over where your rig ends up. That made sense to me, and I can support seat belt laws for trucks until I learn something new. It would seem like a seat belt law for trucks is in the best interest of innocent motorists.

For passenger vehicles, that is another story. I chose to wear mine because I think it is my own best interest. I don't think it should be law though. I also don't think we should make motorcycle helmets laws either. If people want to harm themselves, or take risks - that is their business until it impacts the reasonable expectation of safety of others.

 

A view I share on both counts.

 

Why don't you ask Russell Staley how he feels about the freedom of not wearing a seat belt? How about the families of Meagan Richardson, Brooke Deckard, Katelynn Woodlee, and Jaiden Pelton?

Read through the thread i-35 mm 47 oklahoma semi vs school bus and my analysis of what might have happened. Russell Staley claims he was distracted reaching for a drink, missed a gentle right turn in the northbound lanes, then drove straight ahead 820 through the grassy median then drove straight into the bus and continued straight until his truck crossed all southbound lanes and plowed through trees to come to a stop.

With cruise control set at 60 mph it would take over nine seconds to go 820 feet in a straight line. In order to stop the truck either brakes had to be applied or the cruise control disengaged in order for it to slow in the grass. The steering wheel would need to be turned to avoid the bus.

None of that happened.

IMHO Mr. Staley wasn't at the controls at all.

Freedom my ###.

 

It amazes me that people will wear seat belts on an airplane without question, but when they're rolling on the surface at 90 feet per second and upwards surrounded by fixed objects, trees, rocks, buildings, poles, etc., they get all uppity and freedom-ey. That's not exercising freedom -- that's just stupidity.

Seatbelts save lives, you morons.

 

If I don't wear one and get broadsided on right side, how would I control vehicle smooshed up against right door?

 

I traveled a lot by air over the last few decades. You'd be surprised how many people don't wear seat belts on the plane after the seat belt lights come off. In my travels I've been in turbulence so bad people were injured on the plane.

One guy refused to put on his seat belt when the buckle up sign for upcoming turbulence lit up. The stewardess got into a bit of a confrontation with the guy when the stewardess was injured from hitting a big drop, she levitated then "Wham!" down into the aisle. Had she been able to finish her round quickly to make sure everyone was buckled up instead of having that jerk delay her safe return to buckle up in her jump seat she wouldn't have broken her ankle.

Freedom my ###. You've got to think of more than just yourselves you morons.

 

I've worn one for years. Got nearly t-boned in my car back in 1983....I was driving a 1980 Mazda 626. The 81-year-old man that hit me because he never slowed for the red light was driving a mid-70s Buick Electra 225. Spun me around like a top....but I was uninjured. I'll wear mine every time. Life has no guarantees, but I like my odds better with one than without.

 

IMHO ... it really comes down to personal choice. Don't want to wear a seat belt? Fine, don't. But when you're ejected from your vehicle during an accident ... *shrug* ... you chose that fate.

However, when others are riding with you .. then it's not only YOUR safety at stake. When I'm in a vehicle, my seat belt is utilized not because it's "The Law" but because I know my chances for surviving the trip are increased. When I'm driving, the vehicle doesn't move out of park until everyone puts on their seat belts. Period. Don't like it? Don't ride with me.

 

I got into the seatbelt habit when I was a kid. It feels weird driving without one on. I am glad I got into the habit as I was in a head-on collision in 1994 (Acura Integra vs Jeep Cherokee) and no one in the Jeep had their belts on. My car took most of the damage, but the people in the Jeep were the ones most seriously injured.