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

Here bikes may not have seat belts but we have a helmet law so somehow it all evens out.

 

I am pretty particular about seatbelt use. In 1998 I was in a head-on collision and the only reason I'm not either vegetative or dead today is that seatbelt that kept my skull from interfacing with the top of the windshield frame (a pretty solid portion of the unibody on a Mazda RX-7). Had a really interesting bruise from it, though, but that's completely irrelevant.

 

I guess company policy trumps federal policy, that's a good one.

 

exactly

snow, ice, and coming to a scale

thats it

 

One last thing to add to this thread.

While I realize that one person's words rarely resonate with another person, especially if that person has never walked a foot in the first person's shoes. So while my story I'm about to share may not be something everyone can relate to, the point of the story should be understood by all.

About 4 years ago, while working as a paramedic in Missouri, my partner and I were dispatched to a rollover accident on a small highway winding it's way through our county. Upon our arrival, we found a Ford F-150 way off the road, having blown a tire and rolling probably 7-8 times before ending up upside down in a field. 4 construction workers returning from a job, 3 of them not wearing seat belts. 2 of the men were dead on the scene. Both of the dead guys were hundreds (yes, hundreds) of feet from where the truck ended up. A third man was in bad shape. I'll spare all the graphic details of his injuries, but he was in serious trouble. As my partner and I attempted to stabilize him the best we could, we had radioed for a life flight helicopter (long drive time to nearest hospital), and did our best to keep this guy alive. As my partner was on the radio, I was sitting at this guys head, managing his airway, when he pulled back his non-rebreather (O2 mask), looked up at me, and with a quiet whisper calmly told me "Man, I can't die..I've got kids" ... He then promptly did just that...died. His last words, words to me, were of regret. Where just moments before he was combative and screaming in pain, in that last moment of his life he thought of his kids and the obvious knowledge he was dying and he thought of his children.

A few days later his obit was in the local paper. This guy was 27 years old, and left behind a wife of 8 years and 3 daughters, aged 7, 3, and 1 years old.

That, more than any other thing that I ever did or witnessed broke my heart.

I mean, if you want to be all billy -badda$$ with your "screw the government and their laws" attitude, and your silly claims that you may be safer without a safety belt than with one....you must have family or friends that would miss you terribly if you're gone. If you don't have a single soul that would shed a tear if you die prematurely, then by all means do what you gotta do. But if there is one spouse, one child, one parent, one life-long friend who would be grief stricken should you die a preventable death, don't you think the kind thing to do would be to do everything you can to live as long as you can? For their sake?

For years I couldn't get that guy's voice out of my head. His last words, "Man, I can't die...I've got kids". The pictures of him in happier times with his beautiful family in the paper along with his obituary. The thought that if this guy has taken 2 seconds of his life and used his seat belt, his 3 daughters would never have to live a life without their father.

So if you're too macho, too stubborn, too set in your non-seat belt using ways....think of who would be overcome with grief when they get the phone call that you flew through the air and landed with a life-ending splat, all because of not using that silly little seat belt.

Oh, and in case you may have wondered...the 4th guy in the truck....was wearing his seat belt and didn't have a scratch on him.

That's my story....

 

Oh yea, one more thing just to clarify.

I'm also against mandating seat belt use for anyone 18 and over. (as well as helmets for motorcycle riders)

I mean, the only one you're going kill is yourself...so yea it should be a personal choice.

My story above was more of a reason why you should wear one.

 

I dont wear them it should be our choice period.

 

It absolutely does. As I said, if I don't like company policy, I can just go to another company.

Federal government has no right to force me to wear safety equipment regardless of how well intentioned such nanny state legislation may be.

There's no constitutional basis for forcing citizens to wear seat belts, helmets, or freakin' knee pads when they ride a skate board for that matter.

Freedom carries with it a measure of risk. You take away the risk, you take away freedom.

 

I'm completely on board with recommending their use, but (as far as adults go, as you mentioned) that should be where it ends.

 

Seatbelts are for suckers. Just look how cool this guy is.

[video=youtube_share;JcVSQh5MbTo]http://youtu.be/JcVSQh5MbTo[/video]


IMO if you don't wear a seatbelt, auto and health insurance shouldn't cover any injuries you receive and life insurance shouldn't pay out.