To Belt -or- Not To Belt?

[KSL667]

yours looks worse then mine did, i flipped my 91 k2500 and i wasnt wearing my belt. ducked below the the dash and got pinned in because i landed on the a-arm and it smashed down flat. my only near fatal crash and wasn't wearing a seat-belt that saved my life as the seat was crushed down but as posted earlier, it can kill you not wearing one. i wear mine and don't. forget most times

[Jhill]

I'm not too small i'd have trouble flying out the openings

I'm not trying to be mean, but this comment is just freaking ignorant.
You have absolutely ZERO control over your body at the time of impact. Just because you think you are too big to fit out your window does not mean you actually are. Obviously you aren't too big to fit out your door or you wouldn't be able to get into the vehicle in the first place. It's not totally uncommon for doors to come open or off in bad wrecks. I'm glad that not wearing a seatbelt happened to save your life this one time, but you are playing with fire if you ever get in another bad wreck.
The laws of Physics > People

[KKami361]

Originally Posted by DMAXchris

I hardly ever wear mine. If someone is gonna T-bone me in the drivers side, I'm jumping outta the way.

If you have time to jump out of the way, then you have time to avoid the accident because you obviously see it coming. OR if you do have that much time, the other person might recover, so that leaves you, rolling in a truck with no driver, and who knows where it's going because you probably jerked the wheel when you jumped out of the way...

Problem is, when an actual collision occurs, it's because someone didn't see it. I was t-boned in my 97 GMC 2500. It was at night, and between the time I saw the headlights of the car that hit me, and the impact, I didn't even get past OH in an "OH SHIT!" The only thing that saved me from a life of pain was the fact that she was driving a Grand Prix, and her bumper hit my truck at the rocker panel, behind and below my seat. My seat belt kept me in my seat, rather than getting thrown across to the other side.

[clayt171]

Was in a roll ove when I was about 14. Wasn't that bad of one. Truck only went 3/4 of the way over. If I had been belted I would have walked away with only a sore neck. However I ended up limping for over a week with a really nasty buise on my leg from the steering wheel.

If you are too ignorant to buckle up for yourself then do it for your family and friends. They don't need to see you mangled, or worse a vegetable.

[maxthis]

I have been to a ton of extremely bad accidents...Ever seen a steering wheel touching the seat?...Picture what what happen if you were belted in..any guesses?

to me it's 50/50...I'd just assume not wreck and find out! I wear mine on long trips but not running around home even though your chances of wrecking close to home are far greater then far away....I have seen it both ways though...seatbelts killed people and sealbelts saving people...eitherway I don't enjoy seeing it kinda comes with the job though

[RedBowTies88]

i always wear my seatbelt in fact i do not feel comfortable without it.

but i believe it should be your choice and if you dont want to wear it that should not be against the law

[Fire Escape]

I spent a lot of my productive years removing victims and bodies from wrecked cars. I did it for well over a decade (and at least 100 bodies) before I removed a seat belted body from a wreck. That's much too small of a sample to draw any realistic percentages from but a lot bigger than the "I would have been killed if...." group has to draw from. I never did treat anyone who had successfully "jumped out of the way" but I might well have found a few who tried unsuccessfuly, they were in no condition to say one way or the other. Long before I was involved in being a FF/EMT I was convinced that it was worth wearing a belt just for the better chance of maintaining control of the vehicle, getting up close and personal with crashes just added to the reasons for doing it.

Bruce

[duramaxbd03]

i always wear mine
it feels weird not to

[GORDOMFDMAX]

Originally Posted by Fire Escape

I spent a lot of my productive years removing victims and bodies from wrecked cars. I did it for well over a decade (and at least 100 bodies) before I removed a seat belted body from a wreck. That's much too small of a sample to draw any realistic percentages from but a lot bigger than the "I would have been killed if...." group has to draw from. I never did treat anyone who had successfully "jumped out of the way" but I might well have found a few who tried unsuccessfuly, they were in no condition to say one way or the other. Long before I was involved in being a FF/EMT I was convinced that it was worth wearing a belt just for the better chance of maintaining control of the vehicle, getting up close and personal with crashes just added to the reasons for doing it.

Bruce

x2 on that. I starting wear it after I hit a utility pole when I was 18. I didnt' hit it square and the car spun taking out the guide wire and a fence and a parked car (that was totalled too). It saved my life for sure. Before then it was odd to have it on, since then its odd without.
Now that I too work as a FF/EMT, I encourage everyone I know to wear their seatbelt. Have seen countless times where the accident site alone looks fatal when its not because of the use of seatbelts. Then again, Ive seen too many that seem like little fender bender, no big deal accidents where they were fatal. Bottom line is... it will save you a 1000 or more times before it kills or seriously injures you!!
PS- arguing over the seatbelt law is pointless, I dont' like government telling me i have to do things either, ie. paying taxes, abiding speed limits, etc.-
But those things will never change either!!

[08 Black Max]

I have 30 years as a FireFighter / Paramedic

I can say that I have never unbuckled a dead person.

I have worked in the rural and urban and suburb areas and therefore I have seen many kinds of accidents dealing with a just about every kind of moving vehicles - farm implements, cars/trucks - planes - trains - helicopters - subway's - boats / ships and all kinds of various industrial vehicles.

Dealing with all ages of patient population.

I HAVE NEVER UNBUCKLED A DEAD PERSON !

With exception of aircraft accidents involving high speed and altitudes - please read on for the explanation.

To those you say that you can just jump out of the way - I and or my fellow medics will get to practice our trade in some form in your future-job security, thank you I need the job.

To those that are involved in a T bone type accident - This is the most lethal type of Impact You can sustain if you are the one that is struck in the side as previously stated all the energy is transfered to your car - eventually you.

To those that say they do not wear the seatbelt when only around town/neighborhood - The majority of all accidents are within 10 miles of one of those involved. 25 mph head on collision is equal to the force of 50+ mph crash. Now just imagine the force applied to the body actually grows exponentially as the speed and mass increase.

Now in my current stage of my career, I now teach new firefighters and medics and now investigate emergency vehicular accidents.

I also agree that adults should be free to make a choice so long as that decision and its results do not affect others either directly and or indirectly.

So yes the govt. that tells you to wear your seatbelt is looking after the greater populous.

But just remember nobody ever needs the fire dept./ems/police, because they did something smart!