Poll-Should I be forced to use a seat belt

Discussion in 'Trucking Industry Regulations' started by Baack, Nov 23, 2009.

Which of the following best describes your behavior?

  1. *

    I would wear a seat belt regardless of whether it is required by law

    63.8%
  2. *

    I wear a seat belt but only because it's the law

    21.7%
  3. There is no seat belt law where I live but I wear it anyway

    0 vote(s)
    0.0%
  4. There is no seat belt law where I live and I don't wear it

    1.4%
  5. *

    A seat belt is required by law but I still don't wear it

    15.9%
  6. My truck is so old it doesnt even have seat belts

    0 vote(s)
    0.0%
  1. Baack

    Baack Road Train Member

    15,294
    10,172
    May 24, 2007
    Wisconsin
    0
    What do you think of seat belt laws?
    If you do wear a seat belt, the reasons you do so are ?
    If you don't wear a seat belt, the reasons are ?
    Have you ever been stopped by police because of not wearing a seat belt while driving?

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  3. dieselbear

    dieselbear Road Train Member

    1,798
    2,800
    Oct 18, 2008
    0
    Get a good look at some motor vehicle collisions, You'll always wear it. I know....there will be some who say "I can't get out of the truck", or "My friend burned up because he was belted." Well that is nothing more than B.S. If someone is in the vehicle and can't get out, it's not because of the seatbelt, it's caused entrapment because of intrusion into the passenger compartment. The seatbelt will give you the best chance to survive any wreck. If a person dies in a wreck and they are wearing a seatbelt, it is a unsurvivable wreck to begin with. Which they do happen. Sometimes the vehicle "crush" or intrusion is so great that there is nothing that can be done. Other times when there is crush into the vehicle, the person is trapped in the vehicle and once the fire department releases the person from the intrusion, they end up bleeding out because the crush of the vehicle was holding everything together. The seatbelt will definately save you in a rollover. Once a vehicle flips, either once or multiple times, the unbelted individual continues at the same speed and direction the vehicle is going. The individual just bounces within the vehicle or get ejected if an opening is present. At which time the individual is usually crushed by the vehicle and suffers fatal injuries. I can think of only 2 times in 10 years of investigating seroius and fatal accidents that someone was ejected that did not recieve fatal or very significant injuries because of the ejection. Ever wonder why NASCAR wears all of the safety devices they do? To keep them in place, to become part of the vehicle and not thrown from the vehicle.
     
  4. GuysLady

    GuysLady Trucker Forum STAFF Staff Member

    18,041
    11,879
    Jun 20, 2007
    The eye of the storm....
    0
    I hang out on tow-yards and wrecking yards. I see the results of not wearing seat belts EVERY DAY! Some of them are pretty gruesome...

    The ONLY time, I saw not being buckled in pay off was in the aftermath of one particularly hideous accident, where a little Honda CVC finally came to a rest INSIDE a Safari van... every other passenger in the van was killed. The infant seat was not properly buckeled in and the infant, in the seat was thrown clear of the accident. The infant was the SOLE SURVIVOR of the entire family.
     
  5. GasHauler

    GasHauler Master FMCSA Interpreter

    6,257
    4,358
    Oct 23, 2005
    Vegas/Jersey
    0
    I agree DB. I know of some very old gas haulers that would not wear a seat belt because they thought they could escape a fire. The fires I've seen with a gasoline tanker where there's a death nobody's getting out no matter what the driver does. But then again I've seen rollovers where the driver did wear his seltbelt and just walked away. I believe those stories about jumping out are old stories and not true. Better safe than sorry.
     
  6. Baack

    Baack Road Train Member

    15,294
    10,172
    May 24, 2007
    Wisconsin
    0
    The only reason i wear a seat belt is so I wont get a ticket
    I feel yes it may be smart????
    Buts its not our governments place to dictate all parts of my life
    And that is my worry for universal health care
    Because its provided by the government, they will decide what will be a calculated risk as far as health care and what cost statistically more
    Seat belts are just the tip of the ice burg
     
  7. Ducks

    Ducks "Token Four-Wheeler"

    3,415
    3,581
    Jan 1, 2007
    Southeastern Pennsylvania
    0
    I don't think wearing a seatbelt should be a law... nor should wearing a helmet when on a motorcycle. However, I think those who elect not to do so should be required to either carry additional insurance or waive the right to collect on insurance (or from another party) in the event of bodily injury in the event of an accident.

    Me? I wear a seatbelt. Always. And so do passengers in my vehicles.
     
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  8. GuysLady

    GuysLady Trucker Forum STAFF Staff Member

    18,041
    11,879
    Jun 20, 2007
    The eye of the storm....
    0
    On December 16, 2002 my husband walked away from a wreck that, if he had not been wearing his seatbelt, would have killed him. By all accounts, and all evidence, it should have anyways... The wind caught the back of a cab-over running bobtail, slung it across 2 traffic lanes, into a median, the latchpins broke and the cab flipped....

    If he had not been wearing that seatbelt, he would have been slung around in there like a ball in a pinball machine...
     
  9. Spacer

    Spacer Medium Load Member

    470
    207
    Dec 8, 2008
    Little Rock, AR
    0
    Since I can't really predict the exact outcome of any accident, I just worry about control of the vehicle. So long as I'm still in the driver's seat, I have some chance of controlling the truck.
    When I was 16, a Pizza Hut driver T-boned me in my Mom's Impala, which sent it into a spin. With the bench seat, I could feel my body trying to slip over to the wrong side, but I was held in place by the seatbelt (and boy, it left a nice line of bruises).
    As the spin worked itself out, the car started rolling toward oncoming highway traffic, and I was able to steer the car down into a barditch.

    Years later, my high school sweetheart met her end in a similar sort of accident, but she was thrown from the car, which then landed on top of her.

    Like in an airplane, no matter what happens, fly the plane... drive the vehicle. If you aren't in a position to do so... I hope the bailout works for ya.
     
  10. Big Don

    Big Don "Old Fart"

    17,996
    35,640
    Sep 8, 2007
    Utah's DIXIE!
    0
    My seat belt gets fastened before the vehicle gets put in gear. Period, end of story, no excuses. And if you ride in my vehicle, you will do the same.

    I don't think the government has a right to mandate it. I believe I DO have the right to, in my vehicle.

    I have been to hundreds, if not thousands of accidents. I've seen what happens when belted, vs non belted. Yeah, I did see ONE where a person was thrown clear and lived. Had they been belted into the car, there is no way they could have survived. It involved a very big drop off from a shelf road...

    But play the odds. Buckle up and live to tell about your "GREAT CRASH."
     
    GuysLady, lonewolf4ad, Spacer and 3 others Thank this.
  11. Markk9

    Markk9 "On your mark"

    1,052
    229
    Nov 26, 2006
    Lehigh Valley, PA
    0
    When I drive a company car or truck, I wear a seat belt. I don't believe that the government should force to wear a seat belt.

    My car is 71 Dodge, it only has lap belts. I get pulled over at least once a month for not wearing a seat belt. Most of cops are cool and figure out the car is not equipped with shoulder belts. I had one local punk kid cop that still wrote the ticket, when to court and the judge make a fool out of the kid cop. I also sued the kid cop in small claims court, for my lost work time, time to prepare my case, and damages. I won and he had to pay me $700.

    Mark
     
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