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Do you believe in seat belt laws for consenting adults?

Do you believe in seat belt laws?


  • Total voters
    99
  • Poll closed .
That's ridiculous. If you are driving so fast that a selt belt needs to keep you from flying out of your seat, an air bag will be deployed so the driver CANNOT gain control of the car once safety belts have tightened due to significant jarring. Be honest and admit that seatbelts are put into place for the safety of the indivual and not to save others from an accident. There's nothing worse than a dishonest discussion.
What??? Regardless of how violent the jarring of the car, the airbag will not deploy. The seatbelt keeps a driver in the drivers seat, behind the wheel, where he is more able to respond to the emergency.


I'd like to see some proof seat belts allow the driver to maintain control of a car. Speed can be a determining factor and a seat belt can help the driver from getting severely hurt if they lose control but a seat belt does not allow a driver to maintain control of a car that is headed for an accident.
Since you seem to have never been in that situation, all it takes is a bit of reasoning. If the driver's ass is sliding across the seat, instead of firmly planted behind the wheel, and his feet are nowhere near the pedals, then he obviously will have difficulty controlling the car. He'll be hanging onto the steering wheel, trying to use it to keep himself from sliding around, and his feet will be trying to find a purchase to steady his motion, instead of steering to control how the wheels are pointed and being able to use the brake or gas pedal.

Yes, believe it or not, if you keep your cool and can point the wheels & apply the brake/gas as needed you can, indeed, come out of a skid and do many other things to avoid an accident or lessen the impact of one.
 
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What??? Regardless of how violent the jarring of the car, the airbag will not deploy. The seatbelt keeps a driver in the drivers seat, behind the wheel, where he is more able to respond to the emergency.

Since you seem to have never been in that situation, all it takes is a bit of reasoning. If the driver's ass is sliding across the seat, instead of firmly planted behind the wheel, and his feet are nowhere near the pedals, then he obviously will have difficulty controlling the car. He'll be hanging onto the steering wheel, trying to use it to keep himself from sliding around, and his feet will be trying to find a purchase to steady his motion, instead of steering to control how the wheels are pointed and being able to use the brake or gas pedal.

Yes, believe it or not, if you keep your cool and can point the wheels & apply the brake/gas as needed you can, indeed, come out of a skid and do many other things to avoid an accident or lessen the impact of one.

There are numerous videos on YouTube about what happens to people when they aren't wearing a seatbelt. This reminds me of one of those which looks like it came from one of the bait car cams (view was about middle of the dash, near stereo/air controls, looking back into car, able to see most of the interior of the car), and the driver hits something and ends up in the back, after being thrown around a bit, behind the passenger seat, folded up. It looked like he was in some pain. And there was no one behind the wheel then, since he was the only one in the car.
 
I'd like to see some proof seat belts allow the driver to maintain control of a car. Speed can be a determining factor and a seat belt can help the driver from getting severely hurt if they lose control but a seat belt does not allow a driver to maintain control of a car that is headed for an accident.

Please note that I said it increased the odds, not guarenteed that they could. If they are not wearing the seat belt they have a higher probability of either being thrown out of the seat completely (whether ejected from the vehicle or not) as well as a higher probability of injury that will make them unable to control/regain control of the vehicle. It also of course depends upon the type of accident/loss of control that occurs.
 
What??? Regardless of how violent the jarring of the car, the airbag will not deploy. The seatbelt keeps a driver in the drivers seat, behind the wheel, where he is more able to respond to the emergency.


Since you seem to have never been in that situation, all it takes is a bit of reasoning. If the driver's ass is sliding across the seat, instead of firmly planted behind the wheel, and his feet are nowhere near the pedals, then he obviously will have difficulty controlling the car. He'll be hanging onto the steering wheel, trying to use it to keep himself from sliding around, and his feet will be trying to find a purchase to steady his motion, instead of steering to control how the wheels are pointed and being able to use the brake or gas pedal.

Yes, believe it or not, if you keep your cool and can point the wheels & apply the brake/gas as needed you can, indeed, come out of a skid and do many other things to avoid an accident or lessen the impact of one.

If a person is driving so fast that a seat belt must hold him secure in his seat, it is the speed that is the factor and not the seat belt. Perhaps, the seat belt could increase his odds of staying alive but the DA could still cause an accident if he/she is driving that fast. Now if a person loses control of the car because he spins on ice (let's say) and the belt keeps him in his seat, other cars can still get into an accident due to the spinning of the car. The seat belt may help all these drivers that got involved in this accident walk away but the seat belt does not prevent such loss of control.

Let' be honest. Seat belts may save the driver and/or passengers from severe injury or death. Anything else is hype like seat belts preventing flying bodies from hitting others or speeding cars that lose control that suddenly can maintain control. The out of norm stuff mentioned is NOT the reason we have seat belt laws.
 
If a person is driving so fast that a seat belt must hold him secure in his seat, it is the speed that is the factor and not the seat belt. Perhaps, the seat belt could increase his odds of staying alive but the DA could still cause an accident if he/she is driving that fast. Now if a person loses control of the car because he spins on ice (let's say) and the belt keeps him in his seat, other cars can still get into an accident due to the spinning of the car. The seat belt may help all these drivers that got involved in this accident walk away but the seat belt does not prevent such loss of control.

Let' be honest. Seat belts may save the driver and/or passengers from severe injury or death. Anything else is hype like seat belts preventing flying bodies from hitting others or speeding cars that lose control that suddenly can maintain control. The out of norm stuff mentioned is NOT the reason we have seat belt laws.

I could see a seatbelt helping a person regain control of a car if said seatbelt was a 4-point harness or some such and kept them from being thrown off balance when the car spun, so they had the leverage to regain control.

But I'm not sure a normal seat belt would help much.
 
I could see a seatbelt helping a person regain control of a car if said seatbelt was a 4-point harness or some such and kept them from being thrown off balance when the car spun, so they had the leverage to regain control.

But I'm not sure a normal seat belt would help much.

I agree.
 
How is that dishonest? At no point have I noted that neither one save individuals. I am one who believe in the consequences of one's actions to one's self, but not to others, if it can be helped. If you ride a motorcycle with your helmet off you risk only yourself, because your lack of helmet will not affect you ability to control or regain control of the bike in an accident.

What if an object hits you in the head and you pass out because you weren't wearing an accident and lose control of the bike and cause an accident that kills someone?
 
The way I look at it....motorized vehicles are like firearms - a tool that is dangerous if used incorrectly.

Firearms users are supposed to follow safe practices when using their tools, to avoid accidentally harming others.
In the same vein, motorized vehicle operators are supposed to follow safe practices when driving, to avoid accidentally harming others.

Similarly, firearms users wear protective gear while using their tools.

I'm not sure that requiring the wearing of seatbelts and/or helmets by law is the way to go, but I am damn sure that if you DON'T do so, your insurance costs should be higher.

And if you die or are injured if hit by another vehicle, and are not wearing a seatbelt/helmet, some of the blame for your death/injury falls not on the other driver, but on you.

It seems logical...
 
If a person is driving so fast that a seat belt must hold him secure in his seat, it is the speed that is the factor and not the seat belt. Perhaps, the seat belt could increase his odds of staying alive but the DA could still cause an accident if he/she is driving that fast. Now if a person loses control of the car because he spins on ice (let's say) and the belt keeps him in his seat, other cars can still get into an accident due to the spinning of the car. The seat belt may help all these drivers that got involved in this accident walk away but the seat belt does not prevent such loss of control.
I was driving 30 MPH, well under the posted speed, trying to avoid a car that slid from a side street into my lane on the main road. I avoided him just fine but was very lucky I didn't hit the power pole because I certainly couldn't control the car from the middle of the front seat. I never drove without my seat belt, again.

Speed has little to do with it. All it takes is some lateral G and your butt is being tugged out from behind the wheel. At that point you're no longer controlling the car, you're using the wheel to try to hold your position, instead of steering the car.


Let' be honest. Seat belts may save the driver and/or passengers from severe injury or death. Anything else is hype like seat belts preventing flying bodies from hitting others or speeding cars that lose control that suddenly can maintain control. The out of norm stuff mentioned is NOT the reason we have seat belt laws.
I am being honest. You can't control a car from the middle of the front seat and you can't control a car if you're hanging onto the wheel to hold yourself in place.
 
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But I'm not sure a normal seat belt would help much.
It does. There's no way you'll end up in the middle of the front seat (or even trying to slide) if you're wearing a seat belt - even a 3-pt, hell, even a 2-pt if it's a lap belt that's positioned correctly.
 
It does. There's no way you'll end up in the middle of the front seat (or even trying to slide) if you're wearing a seat belt - even a 3-pt, hell, even a 2-pt if it's a lap belt that's positioned correctly.
That much it would help. I was thinking more in terms of holding you in driving position so you could regain/maintain control of a vehicle, since someone was apparently arguing that a seatbelt helped you do so.

I would think that a 3-point or 2-point would only keep you in the seat, and that you would be thrown around a bit more than a 4-pt. or whatever.
 
I am being honest. You can't control a car from the middle of the front seat and you can't control a car if you're hanging onto the wheel to hold yourself in place.

I get in my car every day and retain a resting heart rate of 60bpm by imagining the roads aren't filled with millions of drivers you need to explain this to.
 
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I was driving 30 MPH, well under the posted speed, trying to avoid a car that slid from a side street into my lane on the main road. I avoided him just fine but was very lucky I didn't hit the power pole because I certainly couldn't control the car from the middle of the front seat. I never drove without my seat belt, again.

Speed has little to do with it. All it takes is some lateral G and your butt is being tugged out from behind the wheel. At that point you're no longer controlling the car, you're using the wheel to try to hold your position, instead of steering the car.


I am being honest. You can't control a car from the middle of the front seat and you can't control a car if you're hanging onto the wheel to hold yourself in place.

The purpose of seat belts is to protect the occupants in a car.


Overall, we find that seat belt legislation unambiguously reduces traffic fatalities. Specifically, we estimate that a 10 percent increase in usage rate reduces occupant fatalities by about 1.35 percent and has no significant effect on fatalities among non-occupants. This implies that a 10 percent increase in the national level of seat belt usage rate will save about 500 lives annually. Interestingly, although the effect of increased seat belt usage on lives saved is substantial, its magnitude is considerably smaller than the estimate that has been used by the federal government. http://www.law.harvard.edu/programs/olin_center/papers/pdf/341.pdf
 
Name something else normally in a vehicle's passenger compartment that weighs 120 or more pounds. Weight does make a difference.

But along with that, you're required to secure things within or on your vehicle that can become a road hazard, or you can get in trouble for not doing so.

And very few people would feel any guilt or be emotionally upset about running over an inanimate object.
However, most people, at least if they aren't severely messed up already, are not going to take running over a person, whether living or not, well.




Correct.

But I predict that some people will continue to resist seat-belt use

And people will continue to die because of this.




Stupid is as stupid does.
 
This question applies to legal adults only, not children:

Do you believe in seat belt laws?

a) Yes. They are nessisary to protect the public for their own good.
b) No. I'm a consenting adult and shouldn't have to wear one if I don't want to.


Discuss...

I do not object to the laws, and I think that wearing them is a very good idea.

As a motorcycle rider, it's hard to get worked up about the Great Mortal Sin of not wearing them.

I think they are a good idea, like motorcycle helmets, which I use all the time and have saved my bacon on 2 different days.

That said, I oppose the practice of ticketing people JUST for no seat belt.
 
The way I look at it....motorized vehicles are like firearms - a tool that is dangerous if used incorrectly.

Firearms users are supposed to follow safe practices when using their tools, to avoid accidentally harming others.
In the same vein, motorized vehicle operators are supposed to follow safe practices when driving, to avoid accidentally harming others.

Similarly, firearms users wear protective gear while using their tools.

I'm not sure that requiring the wearing of seatbelts and/or helmets by law is the way to go, but I am damn sure that if you DON'T do so, your insurance costs should be higher.

And if you die or are injured if hit by another vehicle, and are not wearing a seatbelt/helmet, some of the blame for your death/injury falls not on the other driver, but on you.

It seems logical...

What if the accident is my fault and your children are now orphans? I have to live with that, even if your choice contributed. And my liability will still be substantially higher, even accounting for your failure to wear a seatbelt. Those orphans are going to be sitting in the courtroom crying that they just want their daddy back. And that might put me in jail.
 
What if the accident is my fault and your children are now orphans? I have to live with that, even if your choice contributed. And my liability will still be substantially higher, even accounting for your failure to wear a seatbelt. Those orphans are going to be sitting in the courtroom crying that they just want their daddy back. And that might put me in jail.
So you agree with me then - good.
 
Correct.

But I predict that some people will continue to resist seat-belt use

And people will continue to die because of this.


Stupid is as stupid does.

There is a reason we have Darwin Awards! Quit trying to disqualify people! ;)

I do not object to the laws, and I think that wearing them is a very good idea.

There is a big difference between something being a good idea for an individual to do and forcing them to do it by law.
 
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