i was a little surprised to see this comment by my friend tiassa in this thread Futher more this comment from vslayer was really surprising This is not so much about the utility of seatbelt LAWS (though im a strong surporter of them) but rather about the efficasy of seatbelts themselves. So i decided to make this thread and see how many people actually understand how seatbelts work and how effective they are at preventing death or serious injuries in car crashes im going to have to ask bells and plazma's apologies at this point. Im going to delibratly break the policy on posting large volumes of copied text. This is because this artical goes through in detail how they work and why they save so many lives each year and i would prefer to have it all here on the off chance the artical disapears
The big question for me is not whether they work, but what right do others have to tell me that I have to wear the damned things? I'm an advocate of children being required to wear them. But I think adults should be allowed to make such decisions on their own. ...else, what will they tell us what to do next? ...which breakfast cereal to eat? ...which wine to drink? ...what meat to eat? When does it stop? When are people/governments going to leave people alone to live their own lives .....or die if they want to? Baron Max
Yeah, but haven't you heard the news lately about obesity in society today? And how "they" want to control what the kids eat and drink at schools? And many cities are now stepping into that obesity issue by making new laws about what and how restaurants cook and what they serve? And the list is getting longer and longer. Baron Max
draqon, barron this thread is NOT about seatbelt LAWS, its about the comments by vslayer and tiassa to the effect that the evidence of the lives saved by USING seatbelts is wrong
Yes, generally, seatbelts save lives. But members of a Texas family drowned because they couldn't get out of their seatbelts. So, ......? Seatbelts also kill people, too. Baron Max
Seatbelts save more lives then they take, therefore seatbelts are necessary for your own protection, well maybe no necessary but a good idea.
Every 15 seconds, someone is injured in a traffic crash. If you’re not buckled up, you could be thrown through a window, sent skidding along the pavement or be crushed under a vehicle in a crash. Live. Someone is killed in a crash every 13 minutes. However, seat belts save over 11,000 lives each year, and they can help you maintain control of your car in a crash. So, buckle up on every trip. Every time. If you crash or slam on your brakes, your car comes to a sudden stop. But you will keep moving until you, too, are stopped—by the windshield, dashboard or pavement. Wearing a seat belt stops your body from being thrown around inside or outside the car. A seat belt decreases the chances you’ll get hurt by firmly keeping you in place. * Air bags are designed to be used with seat belts. By themselves, they are only 12% effective at reducing deaths. http://www.nhtsa.dot.gov/people/injury/airbags/Seatbelt Broch Web/police.html Seat belts are the most effective safety devices in vehicles today, estimated to save 9,500 lives each year. Yet only 68 percent of the motor vehicle occupants are buckled. In 1996, more than 60 percent of the occupants killed in fatal crashes were unrestrained. If 90 percent of Americans buckle up, we will prevent more than 5,500 deaths and 132,000 injuries annually. http://www.nhtsa.dot.gov/people/outreach/safesobr/15qp/web/bukeymess.html
One of the problems with mandatory seat belt laws is that the belts have to be designed for the alleged, PR, sales pitch convenience of people who hate them. If they were voluntary, the car companies could design them for people like me, who wear them whenever they don't get in the way: a five point race car harness with a central bang buckle and no slack, that is adjusted to fit once per driver, completely replaces that moronic airbag explosion (which guarantees injury in every crash and threatens every emergency responder with poisoning if exploded, explosion if not), doesn't hang out the car door getting wet and muddy after it ages, does not malfunction after long exposure to road salt or other electrical hazards, and releases with a single intuitively obvious and reflexively simple thump. It would save hundreds of dollars per car and per crash, eliminate the problem of killing short people (or breaking people's necks, noses, eardrums,thumbs, etc) with explosive impacts, allow for fitting to any children bigger than car seat size, adjust for infants' car seats, be more comfortable in practice, assign the responsibility for safety to the driver's preference where it belongs, and save more lives. And dump the ABS brakes while you're at it. But keep the third brake light at window level - the best payoff in safety features ever invented.
Another idea I came up with back in the 1980's was when you let off on the gas a yellow light starts to flash , warning those behind you that you might be stopping. The yellow flashing lights are used on busses now in many cities. Cars could also be equipped with them as well. Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image!
http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=cvqDrvXDADI I think that is a fairly accurate representation of what happens if you don't wear a seatbelt in a low speed crash.
I've been in a couple of minor traffic accidents as either a passenger or driver, and come away with bruising from the seatbelt on collarbone and hips. I would consider that a fair trade instead of going through the windscreen, dashboard or steering wheel. I grew up on a farm and learnt to drive a manual by 12 or 13, and even when I go back to the family farm its a matter of habit to buckle up (and use the indicatorPlease Register or Log in to view the hidden image!). I see only advantage in them. The full version with retractor is a vast improvement on the old sash type! I can only reiterate what I posted on another thread about this issue, that people who don't wear them are somehow immune to common sense- about the forces involved with moving and stopping of large lumps of metal. On the whole I find that argument about laws and where does the government (the authorities, them) limit what is dictated to us, somehow specious. To not enforce seatbelt laws can only be to the detriment of society (direct financial costs; health system, both emergency and on-going; impact on the workplace; emotional trauma etc) which to my mind outweighs any notion of personal freedom. But then again, I live in Australia, which is over governed, and over regulated!
in adition to bricoleurs post i was involved in quite a serious acident. Most crashes happen at less than 40km\h. Actually a 40k crash is concidered to be a major incident by the ambulance service warenting a major responce including reterval teams from the hospital ect. I had been working long hours and i fell asleep at the wheel while driving at 60-70 km\h and i drifted off the road and straight into a pole. I hit it at my travling speed which is unusal for crashes except of this type. Most crashes involve SOME level of breaking which is why 40 is concidered to be a high speed crash. Because i had fallen asleep my head was down which is VERY dangerious. Luckly i was wearing a seat belt. When people stoped and rushed to the car they couldnt BELIVE that i was compleatly uninjured. The car did EXACTLY what it was surposed to do, the bonnet compleatly crumpled increasing the impulse and my seatbelt kept me where i was surposed to be, the stearing collum colapsed so that it wasnt pushed into my chest and when i escaped with only the smallest bruise across my chest. Seatbelts are only outdone by the introduction of colapsable car frames as the greatest inventions in car safety
Asguard...as you have just illustrated to us how your life was saved by a seatbelt...why the thread for than, if you know the answer to your own question
you cant read can you? you oviously skiped the ENTIRE first post, not really surprising that you skiped the external links but i thought you would have atleast read MY comments and the 2 quoted posts
Yes they do. Cars are very dangerous the least you can do is make sure you're as safe as possible when using them. Just like when you do other dangerous things like riding a bike. But hey if you don't to wear a seat belt you don't have to at least not here in California, you just have to pay the nasty ticket you get if you're caught without one on same with talking on cellphones.
Suicide and assisted suicide are illegal. From this, hopefully you can gather why they made those laws.
i would say that anything that keeps you off that dash and out of that windshield has the potential of saving your life. it would seem that airbags are a bigger danger than seatbelts.
I've had the good fortune to have been in several car accidents without ever suffering a serious injury. I was probably wearing a seat belt in about half of them. The worst injury was a bump on the head when I was in a limo (no seatbelt, do limos even have seatbelts?) and it was t-boned by a pickup truck at highway speed (like 50 mph). I was drinking and talking one moment, and lying on the floor of the limo with a bump on my head the next. When we got hit, I catapulted across the limo and head butted the guy across from me. But we were all fine, no one even went to the hospital. The limo and pickup truck were totaled. I couldn't even get my CD out of the CD player! Another time I was driving down the road when a pick up truck decided to run a stop sign at an intersection despite the fact that I was driving thru it. He T-boned me too ( I hate pick up trucks). Anyway, no seat belt, no injuries. I'm not saying seatbelts don't save lives. I'm sure they do and I aways wear one on the highway (except when I'm in a limo). But not wearing one is far from suicidal.
