Poll-Should I be forced to use a seat belt

Yikes...that's a bunch of accidents there Baack. Are you just an accident magnet??? LOL

Or, are you the reckless one???

I am glad you have fared well though.

 

Statistically, seat belts do save lives. But any kind of Government mandate I am against. It usually isn't the states who dream up ideas of implementing such laws, it is the Federal Government using blackmail to withhold funding from states unless they implement these laws. It is just a revenue enhancement scheme. Iowa, for instance has a primary seat belt law, but no motorcycle helmet law. Go figure. So I am not convinced any of this is about safety and that these government officials really care about my safety.

I have, to no avail of course, been trying to reverse this blackmail scheme by the Federal Government in one area..... If my state must implement these goofy regulations or face a withholding of Federal money, then when the Feds call up my local National Guard unit, we should stipulate that no soldier under 21 in the unit can be deployed and risk their health and well being. If they can't drink till 21 (another Federal blackmail scheme), then they cannot be forced to serve in a combat area until 21. Most probably will never happen, but it would be fun to watch if it did. After all, the National Guard of any state is controlled by the state and the Governor is the commander in chief until such time, by state agreement, the national guard is federalized.

 

Regardless of the law, I wear my seatbelt every time ... it has saved me from serious injury, or possibly death, twice. And less serious injury a few more times.

 

I will state my plainly stated previously opinion.

The government has no right oncesoever to tell me what to do to keep myself safe. They can strongly suggest. They should NEVER have gotten the authority to FORCE decisions of what goes on, around, in, and on my body.

That said.

I try to wear a seatbelt everytime. I have seen what happens to those whom were hurt due to seatbelts and those who were due to not wearing them. I will take a bruise and a busted rib over decapitation or a 100 yard faceplant through a windshield any day.

I am not perfect, I do sometimes forget the thing. But no I have never been caught. Hubby has though.

 

I will still maybe only fasten up a seat belt when the situation is such that the risk of getting a ticket is greatest. Other than that, I could care less. If I get killed not wearing one, I am not really that worried about it. Paranoia is not one of my overwhelming traits. Especially, since we are moving more and more towards a nanny state. Just makes me feel all warm and fuzzy about having served in the military, supposedly protecting something (Constitution) that the majority of Americans don't really want, and politicians think is nothing more than a document that has no meaning for today and can be ignored. This is why we have all these regulations coming at us left and right in every aspect of our lives.... a total ignorance of the Constitution by the people and a total disregard of it by politicians. The Federal Government has absolutely no authority in the Constitution to mandate all these rules on the public. Not talking about commerce here, so don't bring up commerce clause of constitution. That may apply to interstate transportation, but not the general public. It is a state's issue and purogative to create and enforce all these laws at a level where they are accountable to their constituents. The Feds holding states hostage to their ideas clearly violates Article 1 of the Constitution and the 10th ammendment. But who cares.

 

I was in a wreck years ago and i would have had a seatbelt on there would have been 30 foot of guardrail that went through me. without the belt on the impact sent me to the back seat as the guardrail come through my seat. that was 36 years ago and i still only put one on the cross scale then back off. A family in chicago there little kids died in a van that ran over a piece of metal in the road and burst into flames. They could not get to the seatbelts to get out. If you believe that seatbelts save lives you are wrong. Only the lord above can save lives.

 

I believe it should be my choice to live or die when it comes to seatbelt use. Me wearing or not wearing a seat belt is not going to make it any safer or less safe for the other drivers on the road.

 

Doesn't matter if there is a law mandating seat belt use or not. I wear it and so will anybody riding in my car or truck. If you don't, we don't move. End of story, and if you continue to refuse? Well you won't be in my vehicle very long.

 

I wear a seatbelt primarily for the reason that it keeps me behind the wheel if there is an accident, especially a spin out. Especially in the big truck because i am a professional and its a long fall if i fall out of the seat..

I was in two bad wrecks without seatbelts. The first one, i was a kid, and i was in the backseat of a 1993 firebird, that my family had just bought in 1994 and hadnt made the first payment on yet! My moron dad flipped it. I blacked out or have amnesia or something, but I don't and never did recall anything between just riding down Napier Ave in Benton Harbor, MI and laying on the headliner of the car. I think it was just amnesia from bumping my head cause I was the first one out of that car! Crawled out through the back window and next thing I know theres a hand reaching down to grab my hand and get me on my feet! We landed right in someones driveway too! This is right at the I-94 and US-31 southbound and I-196 northbound junction, where you have to drive down Napier Ave for a mile to get between the highways because of butterflies. Yup.


Another one, my idiot dad was just doing a burnout on the street and ended up hitting a tree because he was using drag slicks, i was a teen and was riding in the passenger seat. Being a racecar it had a 6 point harness on the drivers side, and it just had a lap belt on my side, cause the top of the harness requires welding a bracket to the rollcage. I almost died because my dad was too cheap to pay someone 10 bucks to get that bracket welded in. I was wearing the lap belt (actually part of an SFI approved racing harness) however, and that was enough to save my life. Heh, the cops asked me "....were you wearing the 6 point harness?" heh

I'd actually like to put a 6 point harness in my personal car, however, they cannot be installed properly without a rollcage. I think they are much safer than a normal seatbelt. The webbing is much stronger (of course its made for 300+mph wrecks...), the latch is easier to unlatch and only takes a few extra seconds to latch, and the extra shoulder strap keeps you from moving..at all. The latch they use is basically a huge lever, and all the straps have a metal plate with a slot in it, and it all goes onto that big lever, then you lock it down. Just flicking that lever releases the whole thing. Police and paramedics know how to deal with them also.

 

here in pa you must wear a seatbelt but do not have to wear a helmet on a motorcycle.......go figure