Do You Wear Your Seat Belt?

[Mike Cutler]

If the vehicle rolls, all bets are off. A NASCAR style restraint system will keep the driver in place, but a normal one is not designed for it. While it's easy to come up with isolated instances where a person may have been better off without a seat/shoulder belt, the math supports wearing one.

I've engaged in a lot of hazardous activities in my life. Not wearing a seatbelt is kind of foolish in my opinion. It's cheap insurance.

[Dan Hintz]

Bob,

Kinda curious why you rear-ended the truck? Were you too close when he hit the brakes, swerved into his lane where he was stopped, etc.? 35mph is pretty fast for hitting someone who just slammed on their brakes in front of you...

[Art Mulder]

Art,

They are standardized. Bumper heights for passenger cars and light duty trucks need to be within a certain height window. The vehicle I hit was a medium duty truck and had no such requirements.

My point remains... we're all on the same roads, in the same lanes. Why haven't they standardized on bumper heights for ALL vehicles? Have there been studies done on accidents involving these?

[Jim Koepke]

My point remains... we're all on the same roads, in the same lanes. Why haven't they standardized on bumper heights for ALL vehicles? Have there been studies done on accidents involving these?

Some vehicles would not be able to function with their bumpers that low to the road. It wouldn't just be the bumpers, it would be every shipping dock and rail siding.

jim

[Bob Turkovich]

If the vehicle rolls, all bets are off. A NASCAR style restraint system will keep the driver in place, but a normal one is not designed for it. While it's easy to come up with isolated instances where a person may have been better off without a seat/shoulder belt, the math supports wearing one.

I've engaged in a lot of hazardous activities in my life. Not wearing a seatbelt is kind of foolish in my opinion. It's cheap insurance.

Mike,

While I obviously agree with most of your statement, I don't with your initial premise on rollovers.

Revisions to rollover standards have moved the needle significantly in the last 10 years. While I agree that the current 3 point restraint system will not keep you as restrained as a racing system, your odds are better letting the structure protect you rather than being flung from the vehicle.

[Bob Turkovich]

Bob,

Kinda curious why you rear-ended the truck? Were you too close when he hit the brakes, swerved into his lane where he was stopped, etc.? 35mph is pretty fast for hitting someone who just slammed on their brakes in front of you...

Dan,

I dunno. I had just merged onto the freeway and was maintaining what I thought was a safe distance. I was in the second lane from the right. The right lane was first for merging traffic then for two exits ("exit only" lanes). My intent was to take the second "exit only" exit. My attention was taken by the traffic on my right. I was not using cell phone, playing with the radio, etc. I noticed the sign that the right lane was now "exit only" for my intended exit. I looked back straight ahead and saw the truck "stopped" about 40 feet in front of me. I was doing between 60 and 65 when I hit the brakes so the 35mph impact speed was a guestimate. (The police officer at the scene guessed about the same.)

I don't recall seeing brake lights. The dump truck driver told the police he had to slow down for traffic in front of him. The police never checked to see if the dump truck brake lights were working.

I received a citiation for not maintaining proper distance. (For the record, it was my first accident-related citation in 43 years of driving.) I kept playing the accident over and over in my mind and don't know what I did wrong.

Six days later I went through the same stretch of road (on a Saturday AM), planning on taking the same exit. My son was riding with me. Sure enough the car next to me in the right lane did not take the first "exit only" and barrelled right through. If the vehicle ahead of me would have stopped, the same thing might have happened. I started yelling "I didn't do anything wrong!!!". My son said, "Dad, that's why they call it an accident!"

[Mike Cutler]

Mike,

While I obviously agree with most of your statement, I don't with your initial premise on rollovers.

Revisions to rollover standards have moved the needle significantly in the last 10 years. While I agree that the current 3 point restraint system will not keep you as restrained as a racing system, your odds are better letting the structure protect you rather than being flung from the vehicle.

Bob.

I whole heartedly agree. I just didn't express it correctly. A person is better off staying inside the vehicle. ANy level of protection, is better than no protection.
I had a friend die when his car rolled over. His head got outside the window frame and was crushed when the car rolled.

[Rick Moyer]

I find it interesting and somewhat amusing that the majority of posters seem to wear their safety belts in earnest, but no one has mentioned the possibilty of wearing a helmet to drive their car. Are you wearing the belts because they are safer than not? Then why not go the extra step and wear a helmet, too? Or are you just following along with what the insurance companies and the government tell you you should be doing, convinced that they are right?

Now, I don't disagree that wearing the safety belts is a good idea. I just find it amusing that 50 or so years ago before seat belts, many of you never probably considered the safety aspects of driving much. At what level do you/we feel comfortable regarding safety in a vehicle, and why not wear a helmet if that is such a concern?

Same thing with safety gear riding a motorcycle (or anything for that matter). How safe is safe enough? Should someone decide that for everyone? maybe..

Just some food for thought.

[Rick Prosser]

... but no one has mentioned the possibilty of wearing a helmet to drive their car. ...

It would mess up my hair.




Actually, I have thought about this very question. I ride a motorcycle - and always wear a helmet, but I guess I consider the frame of the car around me as the "helmet". I also have a convertible, so that only goes so far...

Race car drivers wear helmets, but they should expect/plan to have a crash - and therefore are required to have more protection (fire suits, helmets, harness, etc.) There are some areas where streets are probably as dangerous (used to drive in Atlanta), but for the most part, I don't expect the statistics to place me in an accident when I drive.

[Rick Potter]

I worked for the Los Angeles Co. Fire Dept. for over 30 years, and was on hundreds of car accidents. I can honestly say that there was only ONE where the driver might have survived if he had not worn his seatbelt. The key word there is MIGHT have survived. Ford Ranger pickup went off the mountain road, down a 120' drop and ended up on it's top, which was completely crushed. He might have survived if he had been ejected, but probably not.

Of all the accidents I have been on, that is the only one that is in doubt.

I have always worn seat belts, installing them on my cars since I was about 17 (1959).

Rick Potter

[Jay Jolliffe]

I live on an Island where the top speed is 40. I don't always were it when I'm on the Island but I do when I'm off. On school buses why don't they have seat belts.I think the kids should be wearing them. Passenger buses have seat belts why not school buses.

[Chris Kennedy]

I find it interesting and somewhat amusing that the majority of posters seem to wear their safety belts in earnest, but no one has mentioned the possibilty of wearing a helmet to drive their car. Are you wearing the belts because they are safer than not? Then why not go the extra step and wear a helmet, too? Or are you just following along with what the insurance companies and the government tell you you should be doing, convinced that they are right?

Now, I don't disagree that wearing the safety belts is a good idea. I just find it amusing that 50 or so years ago before seat belts, many of you never probably considered the safety aspects of driving much. At what level do you/we feel comfortable regarding safety in a vehicle, and why not wear a helmet if that is such a concern?

Same thing with safety gear riding a motorcycle (or anything for that matter). How safe is safe enough? Should someone decide that for everyone? maybe..

Just some food for thought.

50 years ago, I would never have thought about the safety aspects of driving, mainly because I would have been -15 at the time.

The only time I don't wear my seatbelt is when I have to back my wife's car out on to the street so I can get mine out. We are significantly different in heights, and I would have to reset a whole bunch of things. We live on a suburban street only a block long, and so there is almost no risk for the little time it takes. Honestly, it feels strange to be without one, and plenty of times, I readjust the belt and the seat for the whole fifteen seconds it takes. Those who say that seat belts are uncomfortable -- honestly, I don't understand it. I have never found a seatbelt uncomfortable.

As for seat belts versus helmets, I'm with one of the other posters that the car generally acts as a suit of armor. Part of its design is to protect the riders inside. If you are in such an accident that a helmet is what you need after the impact, the rest of your body is going to be toast.

Should someone decide for everyone? Not someone, but a group of people -- actuaries. Mainly employed by the insurance industries, actuaries are basically statisticians who specialize in determining life expectancies based on behavior. Every time your insurance company offers you a discount for a certain behavior (seat belts, smoke alarms, not smoking, etc.) it is because it is backed up on the fact that their expected payout is negative if you don't engage in that behavior.

To any actuaries out there reading this post, I know I just drastically oversimplified what you do, and I apologize in advance.

Cheers,

Chris

[Jason Roehl]

I always wear mine now. I started out always wearing one, but once I knew Indiana's laws, I didn't for a while. It used to be that if you were in a truck (actual truck body or plated as one, depending on who you talked to), you were not required to wear one. So I quit wearing one while I was in town and in my truck. Just because I could, and I knew odds were on my side at low speeds in a larger vehicle. All other times I wore it. Then, a few years ago, the law changed to require use at all times in all vehicles, so I now wear it all the time again.

Years ago, a friend of mine told me that he never wears a seat belt, because he believes that not wearing one saved his life in an accident. He had fallen asleep at the wheel, went off the road and hit a tree--one of those accidents where the headlights ended up facing each other. Anyway, because he didn't have a seat belt on, he fell over to the side, which was good for him, since the steering wheel was pushed into the seat back where he was formerly sitting. He still ended up doing quite a bit of hospital and rehab time and had a bad limp years later, but he won't wear a seat belt now.

I have also worn a motorcycle helmet while driving a car, just for kicks.

[Bob Rufener]

I always wear a seat belt and would feel totally uncomfortable without one. I have a motorcycle as well and always wear a helmet.

[Bob Turkovich]

Years ago, a friend of mine told me that he never wears a seat belt, because he believes that not wearing one saved his life in an accident. He had fallen asleep at the wheel, went off the road and hit a tree--one of those accidents where the headlights ended up facing each other. Anyway, because he didn't have a seat belt on, he fell over to the side, which was good for him, since the steering wheel was pushed into the seat back where he was formerly sitting. He still ended up doing quite a bit of hospital and rehab time and had a bad limp years later, but he won't wear a seat belt now.

.

Jason,

I'm curious as to how old your friends' vehicle was. There are couple of points I'd like you to relay to your friend to hopefully convince him to wear his belt.

First, steering columns are now (and have been for awhile) collapsible to minimize the impact upon the driver.

Second, if he's in an accident like his previous one and not like mine), the air bag in the steering wheel will inflate and help to protect him.

BTW, most people think the purpose of air bags is to provide a cushioned surface - it is not. The air bag is expanding at such a rate it does not provide much of a cushion! (It is however, a smoother surface than other parts of the interior.) The primary purpose of the bag is to close the distance between the occupant and the nearest surface, thereby reducing the relative acceleration rate of the occupant.

As an example, there is a high school level Physics project that has been going around for a few years. The student needs to create a rubber band powered small four-wheeled vehicle that carries a raw egg. Everyone gets the same size rubber band. The vehicle must go about 12 feet on a 3 foot high table in a minimum time. After the 12 feet the vehicle launches itself off the table and on to a hard floor. The student needs to predict how far the vehicle goes from the end of the table and 50 % of his/her grade is based on how close the actual vehicle is to the prediction. The other 50% is based on whether the egg survives or not.

Students that designed a compartment that kept the egg from moving at all graded higher. (Note: there are dents in my basement drywall from my son proving this out a few years ago....there was extra credit for exceeding a certain distance All I did was explain to him what airbags really did.)