Friendly reminder to buckle up

[ray1970]

There was an accident in front of me on my way home today. Being the nice guy that I am (and the fact that I couldn't get past the body in the middle of the road) I stopped to check on everyone and call for assistance. The driver of one of the vehicles had been ejected on impact and was face down literally in the middle of the road not moving and blood was beginning to pool up around him.

Anyhow, I am the worst about not wearing my seatbelt. I just don't like the fact that the government takes away my freedom to choose wether I wear one or not and mandates that I do. This was a reminder for me of what could happen. Needless to say I buckled up for the rest of my drive home.

Stay safe everyone. If not for yourself, do it for the ones you love who care about you.

[Gman]

Seatbelts work. It's like putting on my armor...a reflex that I don't even have to think about. I'd rather the vehicle take the brunt of the impact with my squishy self tucked safely inside.

[cstone]

A good PSA. Thanks for the reminder Ray.

I hope the images don't stay with you for long. Glad you made it home safely.

[Ramsker]

I work with a woman who is the biggest progressive I know . . . with once exception. She's fiercely opposed to wearing a seatbelt because she doesn't like the govt telling her what to do. Funny . . . since she's fine with the govt telling her everything else.

I've always just seen it as a self preservation thing. I used to drive without buckling up. Did it through HS and part of college. Was driving home one weekend from Ft. Collins and hit black ice . . . spun out at a pretty high rate of speed, managed to not kill myself. Decided that second that it was the last time I would ever drive without wearing my belt. Simple safety thing, IMHO, just like the rules for handling a firearm.

[vectorsc]

I did racing for a bit. I was driving my street car setup for scca when i got the chance to experience an over the side of the mountain rollover accident.

Only the racing harness saved me im convinced, and only the street legal roof crush tear away on it kept me from being horribly killed when the roof went.. Let me just say i wear a seatbelt every time.

[brutal]

Good PSA. For me, it's second nature.

I make anyone that rides with me put theirs on, and then ask them that if they had to be told, I'm concerned they don't wear theirs all the time. I don't want to have to bury a loved one.

I was careless during much of my teen driving years, but after spending my first few weeks in DE, I have worn it religiously since.

I've witnessed and rendered aid in a situation much like yours. Driving off base one evening after PT (night school shift), we saw an odd light show coming our way. It was the headlights of a car doing end-overs. When we stopped, the car that had been traveling west, was on the east side of the divided highway, on its side, blocking our travel. The lone occupant had been ejected through the windshield and lay on the roadway on his back, about 100 feet from the car, gasping for air, dying. We attempted CPR, but his head was hamburger. Not far off base, the EMT bus arrived quickly and they loaded him, and two of us to assist, up for the ride in. He didn't make it. DOA from severe head trauma.

Please wear your seat belt folks.

[SAnd]

I've been wearing seat belts since 1961. I'm convinced I would be dead if I hadn't been wearing a seat belt at least twice. That said, I freaking hate seat belt laws!!! Other people haven't the right to tell me how to protect myself.

I good training tool for wearing them is You Tube. These are non-fatal but it shows what can happen.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rqb8C0Wt-1Y (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rqb8C0Wt-1Y) or another https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fOl5gF-SLNs (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fOl5gF-SLNs)

Have a Good Day.

[Bitter Clinger]

I used to not wear mine because " screw the man " until I rolled my s10 4 times. Somehow I remained in the truck, I had broken ribs, put my teeth through my lips, several lacerations. I'm fucking lucky to be alive. I wear mine religiously now. I even installed them in my camaro.

[Graves]

Not wearing your seatbelt to spite the .gov isn't advisable, Ray! [Coffee]

[DavieD55]

Thanks for the PSA, a good one everyone should take seriously. I don't like the seatbelt laws myself, but on the other hand it is a good idea to always buckle up and wear a seatbelt regardless. I just recently had a couple of friends pass away in an accident. Neither one was wearing a seatbelt and both were thrown from the vehicle, the third passenger who was strapped into the back seat survived.

[Irving]

You guys are crazy, I'd rather cause irreparable emotional anguish to my loved ones by needlessly dying in an otherwise survivable wreck just to spite a government that doesn't even know I exist, nor would even know I was gone. I also like to continuously demonstrate to my friends that I care so little about them as passengers that I go out of my way to make sure that in the event of a roll over, I WILL be a lethal projectile inside the vehicle. A projectile they'll have no chance to avoid because their willingness to survive has them safely strapped into into place.

[cmailliard]

I have only seen one incident where a seatbelt lead to a loss of life. I cannot count the number where not wearing it caused a loss of life. I have been in two accidents while not wearing my seatbelt, one I was in the back of the ambulance and we were t-boned and flipped on our side. The other I was lucky.

You must stay inside the vehicle during an accident. Rollovers - either they had their seatbelt on and are up walking around and are fine when EMS arrives, or they were not wearing their seatbelt and it is a field pronouncement. There is very rarely a middle ground.

Wear your seatbelt, make your kids wear their seatbelt. If they should be in a car seat, make them sit in a car seat.

[Wulf202]

Having driven bench seat pickups fast down country roads I find the seat belt kept in control of the wheel far better than trying to drive from the passenger side.

[Martinjmpr]

I'm not a fan of either seat belt laws or helmet laws for motorcyclists but I wear my seat belt when in a car and my helmet when on a bike.

New Years Eve, 1997, I was on a 4 day pass in Budapest and had to take a taxi across town. Jumped into the front seat and didn't bother to put on my seat belt. Crazy Hungarian taxi driver then proceeded to make an illegal left turn that sent him into the side of another car and my head straight into the windshield.

I was lucky we weren't going very fast and I just ended up with lacerations and stitches, but I'll say this:

There are fun places to spend New Year's Eve in Hungary but the E.R. isn't one of them. ;)

[TheGrey]

Good PSA. Seat belts are not very comfortable, but they are life savers.

In addition, I wince every time I see people and/or dogs riding in the back of a pickup truck. No seatbelts back there! Just don't do that. I've seen what happens when a collision with a pickup that has passengers in the back. I'll never be able to unsee that.

[Dave]

There are fun places to spend New Year's Eve in Hungary but the E.R. isn't one of them. ;)
Captain Jack's Hooah Club? Budapest was my 4 day pass when I was in Bosnia. [Beer]


Been in a few accidents where I was hit from behind while at a stop light. One was hard enough to twist the frame on my Camaro and have it totaled. Really glad I was belted in or my chest slamming into the steering wheel would have been really bad on top of probably worse whiplash than I received.

[davsel]

Having driven bench seat pickups fast down country roads I find the seat belt kept in control of the wheel far better than trying to drive from the passenger side.
[ROFL1]
Brought back memories

[newracer]

There was an accident up here recently where the two adults in the car both died, neither was wearing a seat belt. Their 2 year old daughter was in a car seat and survived without any major injuries.

[AirbornePathogen]

When I was 18, I was involved in a single-vehicle accident, mainly due to my own stupidity. I was driving my dad's car at the time, and he always insisted that I wear a seat belt in his vehicle. Good thing too, because the vehicle wound up off its wheels and up on the driver's side. Fortunately, the only help I needed afterward was a clean pair of shorts. I don't even want to think about how much worse it would have been if I hadn't been buckled up. Needless to say, I always wear a seat belt now. Not because the law says I have to, but for the sake of keeping my own ass intact.

[funkymonkey1111]

i wear a seatbelt because i'm not an idiot--not because the government tells me to. to those that won't wear them because the gov't tells them to--it's just a matter of time before you're cleansed from the gene pool (to all of our benefit)

[KestrelBike]

When someone forgets to put their belt on in my car, I just tell them I don't want to be conked in the back of the head by their flying body in the even to of a hard crash.

[KestrelBike]

When someone forgets to put their belt on in my car, I just tell them I don't want to be conked in the back of the head by their flying body in the even to of a hard crash. sorry, I'm a lightweight and I've had a single sam adams. dunno what happened here ,but it didn't go well.

There was an accident up here recently where the two adults in the car both died, neither was wearing a seat belt. Their 2 year old daughter was in a car seat and survived without any major injuries.
"Thanks, mom & dad!"

[theGinsue]

I have only seen one incident where a seatbelt lead to a loss of life. I cannot count the number where not wearing it caused a loss of life. I have been in two accidents while not wearing my seatbelt, one I was in the back of the ambulance and we were t-boned and flipped on our side. The other I was lucky.

You must stay inside the vehicle during an accident. Rollovers - either they had their seatbelt on and are up walking around and are fine when EMS arrives, or they were not wearing their seatbelt and it is a field pronouncement. There is very rarely a middle ground.

Wear your seatbelt, make your kids wear their seatbelt. If they should be in a car seat, make them sit in a car seat.

I agree with everything you said. There are rare exceptions where wearing a seatbelt is worse, but in a huge proportion of the time they save lives and reduce injuries.

When I was growing up we never wore seatbelts. The summer between my Junior & Senior years of HS I was the passenger in my dads Mustang on a country gravel road when a phone company service dually pickup truck came around a blind turn on our side of the road. Twenty miles/hour on a gravel road takes some time to stop. We stopped when we collided with the front of the truck. I shattered the windshield with my forehead (queue the jokes). My dad was uninjured but bent the steering wheel. I got a minor concussion out of it; I was lucky.

Over the next school year my brother and I had 4 friends roll a car. None were wearing seatbelts but all survived. The official analysis was that most or all of them would have died had they been wearing seatbelts (something about them all falling onto the floorboards while the roof was crushed). To this day my brother absolutely refuses to wear a seatbelt. I didn't realize at the time how rare those sorts of situations were so I continued to not wear a seatbelt - until I joined the military where we were under direct orders to ALWAYS wear a seatbelt, so I did.

Through the years I realized how smart it was to always wear a seatbelt but resented the .gov making it mandatory. I will never drive or ride in a vehicle without one and no one will ever ride in my vehicles without wearing one. I think seatbelts/helmets/carseats should be mandatory for anyone <18 yo but not for adults. If you aren't smart enough to wear one and get in an accident, well, more chlorine for the gene pool. Children deserve some protection from parents who can't make an intelligent decision, but we adults have an inherent right to make our own choices, even if they are wrong. Through the years I've heard and dismiss the argument that someones poor choice to not wear a seatbelt could put me at risk when they lose control of their car. I get that, but I don't buy that it's sufficient reason (based on risk analysis) to take away someone else's right to choice for themselves.

[davsel]

The laws state you must wear a seatbelt in a car, but they also allow you to ride a bicycle on the highway.
Stupid.

[sellersm]

The laws state you must wear a seatbelt in a car, but they also allow you to ride a bicycle on the highway.
Stupid.

I don't think there's an insurance lobby for bicycles...?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[68Charger]

I don't think there's an insurance lobby for bicycles...?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Mandatory insurance= I want you to wear your seatbelt, it could affect my insurance rates!

That's where it comes from... but even a broken clock is correct twice a day- WEAR A DAMN SEAT BELT!!!!!!

I was convinced when doing delivery driving in Alaska... and I survived.
Race car drivers wear seat belts, so I the only reason I see to not wear them is if you're a Demonrat, and I'd prefer you die.

[ColoradoTJ]

Good reminder Ray. I always were my seatbelt on public roads. When I am on the mountain property cutting wood...not so much.

Our family has had a accident a while back and the other driver decided to be driving 65 mph in a 40 mph zone, not wear a seatbelt and was ejected, rolled over on with a full sized suburban. His actions caused 480,000.00 in medical bills in 3 weeks. The vehicles were 30K, so relatively very cheap to replace.

Some food for thought when you look at your insurance policy next time. 300K limits would not cover that accident.

[fportmen45]

Good on you for stopping. Thank you. Saw a single vehicle accident (well, heard it, but saw the dust) while in line at Bandimere on C470 today - he or she hit the median, then went off the side. Couldn't do much from a 1/4 mile away but call 911.