seatbelts

[Tophersmom]

I went through a windshield back in the early 80's before seatbelts were law. When the paramedics arrived, they thought I was dead as I was covered in blood and unconscious. Luckily my boyfriend put his arm in front of me to hold me back...a reaction on his part..and that helped keep me from going all the way through and landing on the hood of the car. I'm here to tell the tale but I was cut up pretty badly.

I wear my seatbelt now and so do my kids and husband. I don't want to go through a windshield again.

[MeganS]

I wear my seat belt. It feel so weird if I don't have it on. I remember when I was in SACC (an after school thing for people who's parents were at work) one of the leaders was in a car accident. he had a HUGE seat belt burn across his chest, but the doctors told him that if he didn't have it on he would have been thrown from the car. I think it is more likely that someone is killed by not wearing a seat belt, than if they were.

[JeanieK]

Originally Posted by rnnw62

I guess I kind of go against the grain with this subject. I believe
that our children should have any and all safety seats to keep
them safe, but I think when you over 18 that it should be your
choice if you want to wear a seatbelt and not the governments.
You can ride on a motorcycle with no helmit but you have to
buckle up? I just don't get that....And for reference I actually
was a person who ate the windshield in a car accident I was in.
Even after that I never wore seatbelts until they made it a law
that I had to. It's personal choice and for being in a free country
we certainly seem to be losing more and more of those.

And if you become disabled after putting your head through the windshield, and the government has to support you, is it still none of our business. And I feel the same about motorcycle helmets.

I once read an article written by a man who was caring for his wife after she was brain damaged from putting her head through a windshield. He had always nagged her to wear it and she told him that it was her life. Well he was taking his wedding vows seriousy and took care of her but he resented her for needlessly putting him in that situation.

I don't blame him, I would be resentful too. The choices we make do affect other people, and we are our brothers keeper.

[rnnw62]

Originally Posted by JeanieK

And if you become disabled after putting your head through the windshield, and the government has to support you, is it still none of our business. And I feel the same about motorcycle helmets.

I once read an article written by a man who was caring for his wife after she was brain damaged from putting her head through a windshield. He had always nagged her to wear it and she told him that it was her life. Well he was taking his wedding vows seriousy and took care of her but he resented her for needlessly putting him in that situation.

I don't blame him, I would be resentful too. The choices we make do affect other people, and we are our brothers keeper.

So, to understand you correctly...If I am in a car accident and become disabled but am wearing my seatbelt then the government supporting me
would be OK? Whatever! This is politics and nothing else...The what if's
that everyone is claiming to be fact is pure speculation based on statistics
of government paid for studies. It doesn't take a brain surgeon to figure
out that if the govenment is pushing for something their statics are going
to come out in favor of their views. It's not that I don't believe in seat
belts. I just don't need someone else deciding what's in my best interest
and taking away my freedom of the right to choose.


While the use of a seat belt has saved some people in certain kinds of traffic accidents, there is ample proof that in other kinds, some people have been more seriously injured and even killed only because of forced seat belt use. In the latter case, such injuries and deaths are not given the same degree of publicity, if any, as given when people are saved by seat belt use. Such bias in compiling traffic accident data exaggerates the so-called benefit of seat belt laws which misleads the public into thinking seat belt use automatically means safety; nonuse automatically means death in all kinds of accidents, which is false.

In spite of the fact the government is forcing the use of a device that can be injurious and even lethal in certain situations, the government refuses to be held financially responsible for such injuries or deaths. Instead, the government expects the injured or survivors of those killed to obtain financial satisfaction from their own savings, or insurance, or by suing the auto makers

Some people in certain kinds of traffic accidents have survived only because a seat belt was not used &endash; injured, perhaps, but not dead. Such persons, by law, are subject to a citation and a fine for not dying in the accident using a so-called safety device arbitrarily chosen by politicians. Traffic accident data on such traffic accidents only reflect one more injury without using a seat belt, which, again, exaggerate the so-called benefit of seat belt laws.

If a person is killed while using a seat belt, law supporters claim the accident was so severe not even a seat belt could save the person. That might be true in some cases, but the severity of an accident is never mentioned in compiling a list of persons killed while not using a seat belt, which adds to the bias in compiling traffic accident data in favor of seat belt laws.

Evidence of seat belt use increasing injuries or causing a person's death in certain kinds of traffic accidents is well documented in the hundreds of successful lawsuits filed against the auto makers since the advent of seat belt laws in 1985. Court ordered settlements and punitive damage awards forced the auto makers to pay hundreds of millions of dollars to the injured or survivors of those killed as a result of the failure of the seat belt to save as promised. Some lawsuits were settled out of court which sealed the evidence of seat belt design defects from the public, including other lawyers with similar cases.

Hundreds of thousands of autos, vans and light trucks have been recalled as a result of discovering defects in certain seat belt designs after the fact, which means the motoring public has been forced by law to become unwilling guinea pigs, unlike how all other products in the marketplace are treated.

There is a body of law that states a person has the right to refuse any personal health care device, drug treatment, or surgery, even if such refusal might result in an earlier death or an increase in medical expenses. All seat belt laws violate that right, that is, to freely choose to use or not to use a "health care" seat belt. Any medical professional attempting to do the same would be prosecuted, yet politicians claim they can ignore the law while demanding strict compliance from the private sector.

While there is extensive publicity always given those who support seat belt laws, research published by independent professionals, that is, those not on the federal payroll, which challenges the so-called benefit of seat belt laws, is never printed in the national news media, thus the public is denied the right to know there is a legitimate contrary side to the seat belt law controversy.

At one time, it was the same with air bags until one investigative reporter decided to start printing the truth about air bag dangers in certain kinds of traffic accidents. The bureaucrats in the U.S. Dept. of Transportation were so adamant against telling the public about such dangers, which the public had a right to know, the reporter had to use the Freedom of Information Act to force the government to release its own records of air bag injuries and deaths.

[GeorgiesMomma]

I do not believe that the automatic use of seatbelts means you don't die in a car accident. 3 of my aunts were in a fatal car accident in Florida in 1996. A truck driver fell asleep crossed over the median and they hit him all wearing their seatbelts the 2 in the front died on impact, my Aunt in the back however survived. It didn't matter if the my two Aunt's in the front were wearing their seatbelts or not due to their speed and rate of impact , however common sense leads me to believe that driving 70MPH down an interstate and hitting a vehicle you will have a better chance of survival when there is something to restrain you. To each his own is my opinion (unless you are in my car and then seatbelts are mandatory) just don't complain when a law is passed you don't obey it and you get a ticket. JMO

[Rae Rae]

Originally Posted by vainchick5

Then why make your daughter wear it?? Doesn't really make sense to me. If you don't think it's safe then you should let her be free without it.

Exactly...my dad never wears his, for as long as I remember, and he has NEVER told me to put mine one, because he knows its hypocritical. My mom on the other hand...shes very strict on it.

[Rae Rae]

Originally Posted by GeorgiesMomma

Here is something that I posted earlier in the thread regarding seatbelt statistics:

Fatalities and accidents involving those not wearing seat belts costs the U.S. approximately $20 billion per year. Of that cost, 74% of the tab is paid for by the public.
[NHTSA, Traffic Safety Facts Overview, 2001]


Now can anyone tell me how the government MAKES money off people NOT wearing their seatbelts? Not only does it cost the government it costs us taxpayers as well. People can do what they choose to do but the argument that the government makes money off of us not wearing seatbelts or that you have just as much risk of dying being stuck in the car with your seatbelt on as you do being ejected from the car with not wearing your seatbelt is not supported by facts. Sorry I am agree with SissaYSU this topic gets me a little fired up. Also, in the state of Maryland you are required a helmet, which I agree with those who say it makes no sense that you have to wear your seatbelt and not have to wear a helmet.....you should have to and want to do both.

The government makes money off people not wearing seatbelts when they issue them tickets for it.

I kinda understand the tax thing as a reason being why seatbelts are required, but when it comes down to it all I think it's just like doing drugs and prostitution (but not as big as them). The reason drugs are illegal is because of how much money the government makes off of arresting people who use/sell drugs and or prostituion. If they become legal, there goes all that money. Same thing w/ seatbelts. They ticket/fine you for not wearing it, therefore they get more money.

I dont understand IL at all.. helmets are not required but now they have this huge "Click it or Ticket" campaign for seatbelts, and cops are out watching for people who dont have seatbelts. Kinda like how they'll sit there and watch for speeders, but now their watching for people who don't have on their seatbelts.

[GeorgiesMomma]

Originally Posted by Rae Rae

The government makes money off people not wearing seatbelts when they issue them tickets for it.

I kinda understand the tax thing as a reason being why seatbelts are required, but when it comes down to it all I think it's just like doing drugs and prostitution (but not as big as them). The reason drugs are illegal is because of how much money the government makes off of arresting people who use/sell drugs and or prostituion. If they become legal, there goes all that money. Same thing w/ seatbelts. They ticket/fine you for not wearing it, therefore they get more money.

I dont understand IL at all.. helmets are not required but now they have this huge "Click it or Ticket" campaign for seatbelts, and cops are out watching for people who dont have seatbelts. Kinda like how they'll sit there and watch for speeders, but now their watching for people who don't have on their seatbelts.

I don't see the government making enough money to cover 20 billion that America loses each year because people don't wear their seatbelts. Again it's a matter of opinion I just feel much safer wearing one.

[Connie]

Originally Posted by rnnw62

I guess I kind of go against the grain with this subject. I believe
that our children should have any and all safety seats to keep
them safe, but I think when you over 18 that it should be your
choice if you want to wear a seatbelt and not the governments.
You can ride on a motorcycle with no helmit but you have to
buckle up? I just don't get that....And for reference I actually
was a person who ate the windshield in a car accident I was in.
Even after that I never wore seatbelts until they made it a law
that I had to. It's personal choice and for being in a free country
we certainly seem to be losing more and more of those.

I agree with you...I think it should be personal choice. It is law here too and before it was, I wore it...then I quit wearing it when it became law because it ticked me off. I wear it sometimes now, but not always.

[cheryl000]

When I was 16 I was driving around with my sister on a rainy day. We were arguing over the radio, I was listening to the news and she changed it and then we hydroplaned into a head-on collision. I was wearing my seatbelt and my sister wasn't. I didn't know that she took it off when we went through drive thru at McDonalds. I should have checked it and it's my fault even though she was 14.
Since I was wearing my seatbelt I was fine, I didn't have one scratch. My sister's face went right through the windshield. She had to go to the emergency room where they picked glass out of her face for hours and she was still finding glass in her hair days later. Her face was very scratched up and if anyone remembers what it's like being a teenage girl, looks are a big deal. My mom has pics of the windshield where you can see an erie copy of her face and head.
Things could have been much worse that night. But I still live with the GUILT everyday that it was my fault that I didn't doublecheck that my sister was belted in. I hope that no one has to feel the amount of guilt I do whenever I see her, she still has some scars. At the time I figured that it was my sister's fault because she was old enough to put it on herself.
Please realize how much your desicions effect others. IMO not wearing your seatbelt or driving a motorcycle without a helmet are simply actions where people aren't seeing the whole picture. Please realize that your death or injuries don't only effect you, but your families and strangers as well. If I was in an accident with a person and EVEN though it was their fault and they were NOT wearing a seatbelt it would still haunt me the rest of my life. If you won't buckle your seatbelt for yourself, at least do it for someone else's sake. Your life might not mean much to you, but it might mean the world to someone else.