I have always been unhappy with seatbelt laws because I've been wearing seatbelts since before the laws were on the books. I always thought that if you're not intelligent enough to wear them...
-
Want to remove ads? Register an account and login to see fewer ads, and become a Supporting Member to remove almost all ads.
New Tesla Fatality - Single Car Accident.
- Thread starter MattMDK
- Start date
-
- Tags
- Tesla Inc.
When I was a kid, most taxis didn't have working seatbelts. Scared the crap out of me. They got a lot better about enforcing that sometime in the 1990s.
Also when I was a kid, most schoolbuses had no seatbelts at all, except for the driver! Now *that* was disturbing. (This isn't slow-moving city buses; school buses go at 55 mph on highways!) They finally required all schoolbuses to have seatbelts in NY in the late 1990s.
The gaps in the provision of seatbelts were frankly weird. I tried to wear a seatbelt at all times but it wasn't until roughly 1999 that it became *possible*.
Also when I was a kid, most schoolbuses had no seatbelts at all, except for the driver! Now *that* was disturbing. (This isn't slow-moving city buses; school buses go at 55 mph on highways!) They finally required all schoolbuses to have seatbelts in NY in the late 1990s.
The gaps in the provision of seatbelts were frankly weird. I tried to wear a seatbelt at all times but it wasn't until roughly 1999 that it became *possible*.
Statistics have shown that school buses almost never have accidents where seat belts would be a help. Ignoring the educational value, the money to install them would be better spent on other things that would save more lives and reduce childhood injuries. This came as a surprise to me a few years ago when I saw the research.
chickensevil
Active Member
I think it is because unless you hit a brick wall that forceably stops the bus with almost no give, the size of the vehicle will carry the momentum forward and it will take longer to come to a stop. The majority of what causes injury is the body coming to a stop abruptly, which is why most vehicles are doing what they can to absorb the impact in clever ways so it doesn't translate into your body and wreck your system. Humans are very fragile creatures...
What amazes me is the motorcycle equivalent of a seatbelt (helmet) doesn't have the same force of law in most starts. The same state will force you to wear a seatbelt (a good thing) but say once you hit age 18, your skull magically hardens and you no longer need a helmet.
> Also notice the two freshly cut oak tree stumps between the memorial and the culvert, [dennis]
Diameter of these trees would seem to be important. I can't make them out in the photos.
Re: Comfort of Safety Belts:
Used to be that safety belts would ratchet to a fixed position that would remove the tension against your chest yet keep the belt relatively snug. The MS does not do this - not a problem until you need to drive leaning forward - then it becomes a nuisance/irritant constantly fighting you and constricting ever tighter & tighter.
Whenever the DOT mandated (?) this change I suspect it was the last straw for a lot of drivers, who then said the hell with this!
--
Diameter of these trees would seem to be important. I can't make them out in the photos.
Re: Comfort of Safety Belts:
Used to be that safety belts would ratchet to a fixed position that would remove the tension against your chest yet keep the belt relatively snug. The MS does not do this - not a problem until you need to drive leaning forward - then it becomes a nuisance/irritant constantly fighting you and constricting ever tighter & tighter.
Whenever the DOT mandated (?) this change I suspect it was the last straw for a lot of drivers, who then said the hell with this!
--
That wasn't my point.
Try to be a little more understanding of the families and other loved ones of these two people. Bob was in his own car but that's irrelevant. Darwinian references about natural selection and intelligence levels of people who don't wear seat belts unless they see the police may not be appropriate whether you are joking or not.
Using a seat belt in a car is less about protecting you, and more about keeping the car under control and the occupants in the path of the airbags. A helmet in a motorcycle offers some personal protection, but the state doesn't really care about that...they care about preventing you from hurting someone else. Wearing a helmet won't help there, so they have less interest in enforcing it. And before 18 you are a minor and aren't supposed to have enough brains to make your own decisions, such as protecting your brain!
Pilot_51
Member
I grew up always wearing a seatbelt. Sure, when I was a kid I had issues with it digging into my neck, but I dealt with it, sometimes by putting it under my arm. My mom would say she felt naked without a seatbelt. I remember when I was in the back of a van on a 4th grade field trip, wearing my seatbelt when hardly anyone else did (at least not properly), I used the "naked" explanation and the classmate I was explaining it to got disgusted by it and seemed to miss the point. I learned not to explain it that way any more.
As others have expressed, I'm appalled by how many otherwise very intelligent people don't wear seatbelts. Most of the developers I work(ed) with don't wear a seatbelt in the back seat, though they would when they sat in the front. That's part of the reason I don't like to drive the team to lunch, because I don't want to have to awkwardly ask them to put their seatbelt on or be responsible for their own negligence. I'll happily take the back if it means an extra person wears their seatbelt.
As others have expressed, I'm appalled by how many otherwise very intelligent people don't wear seatbelts. Most of the developers I work(ed) with don't wear a seatbelt in the back seat, though they would when they sat in the front. That's part of the reason I don't like to drive the team to lunch, because I don't want to have to awkwardly ask them to put their seatbelt on or be responsible for their own negligence. I'll happily take the back if it means an extra person wears their seatbelt.
Similar threads
