Why should seat belts should be used???


-question by Ashley

Being stupid has nothing to do with it.
I've been in a couple crashes, the seat belt would of made no difference had I been wearing it. Probably would of added a few extra bruses if I had been wearing it. HOWEVER.......not just once, but TWICE I have been driving down the road minding my own business and had my car catch on fire. The government can do all the studies they want to and pass all the laws to protect me from myself, but there is no way on god's green earth I am ever going to tie myself down in a flaming death trap! If that sucker burns I am not about to take that extra second to unbuckle myself before I bale out! I'll take my chances with some road rash rather than becoming a crispy critter.

I remember learning all this stuff in a movie during drivers' education class. Even then it was boring but it still important to know just how much a seat belt can help if you are in a car accident. Without it you might fly out your windshield. My only fear is that if you go under water or get stuck upside down that you might not be able to get out as quickly if you are fumbling to get your seat belt off.

To answer Ashley's question, they saves lives its that easy, but there are some circumstances in which a seat could kill you, but either you were driving really fast and went head on with another vehicle or you get trapped in a burning vehicle or under water. Although I don't think Cerebral is here anymore, but people need to be reminded of these things because it is a fact people simply ignore this and don't wear their safety belt, even if they are going 500 feet to a store or a neighbor's house, but all it takes is a split second of not paying attention and you could have a serious car crash that usually results in some sort of fatality.

Pleno you reminded me about the infamous Driver ed video's one was called red asphalt or some corny names like that.

SM I don't think that is the one I am thinking about but ya they are really corny.

If you are in a car and get hit in the rear, you fly forward really quickly. (I would know I've been rear ended) If you are not wearing a seatbelt, your head or a passenger's head will fly forward and you could either fly out the windshield and land on the asphalt (if you have bad luck you might continue to be ran over) or if you are lucky you will stay in the car but slam your head into the dashboard and severely damage it. A player on my baseball team a few years back was in a situation in which he and his brothers and their friends were driving down the highway and they hit a tree or a pole. He was not wearing his seatbelt and so the car stopped quickly but his body kept moving and he did fly out of the windshield and flew to the ground and died instantly. Had he been wearing his seatbelt he might have whiplash and maybe some bruises like all the rest in the car who were wearing their seat belts but unfortunately he was not.

Safety seat belts are important. Of course there are some cases where people survived a crash or something due to the fact that they did not were them, but in most cases it is opposite. I have never been in a car accident, but I would actually fancy if they started having air bagst on the outside of the car too... haha, would help me as a cyclist.

Something I wonder more about is why seat belts are not mandatory (Right word?) in buses. In many buses here in Norway there are none, and I think it is quite weird when it is just as dangerous not wearing seat belts as in a normal car. How strange.

This post has been edited by Bluebear: May 14 2008, 02:17 PM

Although everyone has heard this hundreds of times, some people still don't listen. If I'm in a car I feel really unconformable and strange if I don't wear a seatbelt. It's such a simple measure that could save your life, so I don't understand why you wouldn't wear one.