Do wear your seatbelt in your vehicle?

[Dargo]

You know what I don't understand? In my state it is the law that you must wear seat belts. The state and local police have set up numerous spot checks along all sorts of busy roads and write up hundreds of tickets. That in turn causes your insurance rates to soar higher than what they already are. Now, with so much legal action and emphasis on wearing seat belts, our state has no helmet law for riding motorcycles. /forums/images/graemlins/shocked.gif Doesn't that sound sort of wrong? It seems like if they have one they should have both. Or, if they don't have a helmet law they shouldn't have a seat belt law. It doesn't make any sense to me.

For the record, I'd not drive down the street in any vehicle without wearing my seat belt. I've been in three rather nasty accidents in my life where they made a big difference. I flat out do not buy any arguement at all about somebody being "saved" by being thrown clear from a flipping car. Anyone who tells me such a story is permanently marked as someone who is not too bright in my memory bank. Also, since I've broken two full face helmets in motorcycle wrecks, I'll pass on the vanity of worrying about a helmet messing up my hair. I'm not all that perty anyway. /forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif I have several friends who are physicians and they all call a motorcycle rider without a helmet "an organ donor". I can't type here what they call people who don't wear seat belts; especially those who do not buckle up their kids. /forums/images/graemlins/shocked.gif

 

[Dargo]

You know what I don't understand? In my state it is the law that you must wear seat belts. The state and local police have set up numerous spot checks along all sorts of busy roads and write up hundreds of tickets. That in turn causes your insurance rates to soar higher than what they already are. Now, with so much legal action and emphasis on wearing seat belts, our state has no helmet law for riding motorcycles. /forums/images/graemlins/shocked.gif Doesn't that sound sort of wrong? It seems like if they have one they should have both. Or, if they don't have a helmet law they shouldn't have a seat belt law. It doesn't make any sense to me.

For the record, I'd not drive down the street in any vehicle without wearing my seat belt. I've been in three rather nasty accidents in my life where they made a big difference. I flat out do not buy any arguement at all about somebody being "saved" by being thrown clear from a flipping car. Anyone who tells me such a story is permanently marked as someone who is not too bright in my memory bank. Also, since I've broken two full face helmets in motorcycle wrecks, I'll pass on the vanity of worrying about a helmet messing up my hair. I'm not all that perty anyway. /forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif I have several friends who are physicians and they all call a motorcycle rider without a helmet "an organ donor". I can't type here what they call people who don't wear seat belts; especially those who do not buckle up their kids. /forums/images/graemlins/shocked.gif

 

[Bird]

It was my understanding that Dale Earnhardt died for the reason MikePA gave instead of a seat belt anchorage problem, but of course, I know nothing except what I've seen in the news. And Tom, I really have no idea of the percentage of fatalities that would have been avoided if helmets had been worn, but certainly quite a number. I can think of several where a helmet probably would have saved them.

I can also guarantee that it doesn't really take much speed to kill you in an auto accident. And any kind of headgear may save your life, or at least lessen injuries. When I started on the police department, the rules required us to wear the uniform cap at all times outside a building, even in the car. And when my partner crashed us head on into a tree at no more than 40 mph, and my seat belt broke and I stuck my head in the windshield, that cap was a real blessing. I had cuts all over my head, including cuts on both eyelids, and was an unconscious bloody mess when the first officers arrived and thought I was dead, but I came to just as they pulled up. When we got to the hospital and I got cleaned up, none of the cuts were bad enough to even need stitches. But when I returned to work, they gave me my uniform cap; said they found it still in the windshield. It was full of blood and glass and that big thick bill (or visor) was cut all the way through. If the seat belt hadn't slowed me down before breaking, I'd have probably gone through the windshield, and if it hadn't been for that cap, if I hadn't been killed, I'd have probably lost my eyes.

 

[Bird]

It was my understanding that Dale Earnhardt died for the reason MikePA gave instead of a seat belt anchorage problem, but of course, I know nothing except what I've seen in the news. And Tom, I really have no idea of the percentage of fatalities that would have been avoided if helmets had been worn, but certainly quite a number. I can think of several where a helmet probably would have saved them.

I can also guarantee that it doesn't really take much speed to kill you in an auto accident. And any kind of headgear may save your life, or at least lessen injuries. When I started on the police department, the rules required us to wear the uniform cap at all times outside a building, even in the car. And when my partner crashed us head on into a tree at no more than 40 mph, and my seat belt broke and I stuck my head in the windshield, that cap was a real blessing. I had cuts all over my head, including cuts on both eyelids, and was an unconscious bloody mess when the first officers arrived and thought I was dead, but I came to just as they pulled up. When we got to the hospital and I got cleaned up, none of the cuts were bad enough to even need stitches. But when I returned to work, they gave me my uniform cap; said they found it still in the windshield. It was full of blood and glass and that big thick bill (or visor) was cut all the way through. If the seat belt hadn't slowed me down before breaking, I'd have probably gone through the windshield, and if it hadn't been for that cap, if I hadn't been killed, I'd have probably lost my eyes.

 

[Bird]

Dargo, maybe they don't have a motorcycle helmet law because such a small percentage of the population rides motorcycles, while they have a seat belt law because nearly everyone rides in automobiles. /forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif And of course, you're right; it doesn't seem logical, but then sometimes our legislatures do a lot of things I don't think are logical. /forums/images/graemlins/tongue.gif I always wear a seat belt, but when I rode motorcycles, I wore the helmet most of the time. And yes, I know you should weat it all the time, but it really can be terribly hot in the Texas sun on days like today with the temperature at 100 degrees, so sometimes when I was only going to the grocery store or such at low speeds I left it off even though I know for a fact that you can get killed in a crash even at those low speeds.

 

[Bird]

Dargo, maybe they don't have a motorcycle helmet law because such a small percentage of the population rides motorcycles, while they have a seat belt law because nearly everyone rides in automobiles. /forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif And of course, you're right; it doesn't seem logical, but then sometimes our legislatures do a lot of things I don't think are logical. /forums/images/graemlins/tongue.gif I always wear a seat belt, but when I rode motorcycles, I wore the helmet most of the time. And yes, I know you should weat it all the time, but it really can be terribly hot in the Texas sun on days like today with the temperature at 100 degrees, so sometimes when I was only going to the grocery store or such at low speeds I left it off even though I know for a fact that you can get killed in a crash even at those low speeds.

 

[Tom_H]

Thanks for replying Bird. People can debate theories and test data but stories from real experience are hard to argue with. Your story really makes a point.

I remember when I was a kid in the scouts. One of the other boy's dad was an officer in the GA State Patrol. One night Frank pulled out some photos his dad had given him. One was of a guy whose head had been run over by a truck tire. The head was literally "flat as a pancake", widened to about 18-20" in dia., but every single feature (wrinkles, individual whiskers, eye lashes, etc.) on the face was totally distinguishable and there were no visible cut or rip marks. It was one of the most eerie things I've seen.

As to Earnhardt's death, I just did some Googling. Apparently, everything each of us has said was reported in the news at some point or other. First report was of broken belt. Next, it was reported that belt was improperly installed so D.E. would be more comfortable. Months later, an independent review of the autopsy disputed the original cause of death, alleging that a snapped neck (independent of the seat belt issue) was the cause. The entire controversy did have a lot to do with HANS device requirement.

Anybody here ever done any custom mod's to a street car to make it more crash survivable?

Bird, do police cars have any such mod's?

 

[Tom_H]

Thanks for replying Bird. People can debate theories and test data but stories from real experience are hard to argue with. Your story really makes a point.

I remember when I was a kid in the scouts. One of the other boy's dad was an officer in the GA State Patrol. One night Frank pulled out some photos his dad had given him. One was of a guy whose head had been run over by a truck tire. The head was literally "flat as a pancake", widened to about 18-20" in dia., but every single feature (wrinkles, individual whiskers, eye lashes, etc.) on the face was totally distinguishable and there were no visible cut or rip marks. It was one of the most eerie things I've seen.

As to Earnhardt's death, I just did some Googling. Apparently, everything each of us has said was reported in the news at some point or other. First report was of broken belt. Next, it was reported that belt was improperly installed so D.E. would be more comfortable. Months later, an independent review of the autopsy disputed the original cause of death, alleging that a snapped neck (independent of the seat belt issue) was the cause. The entire controversy did have a lot to do with HANS device requirement.

Anybody here ever done any custom mod's to a street car to make it more crash survivable?

Bird, do police cars have any such mod's?

 

[JDgreen227]

I installed seat belts in the first car I owned back in 1967 even though it wasn't mandatory in my state. Michigan has had a seatbelt law since about 1985, and I feel it's a good idea. Back in mid 1987 I was driving a loaded 20 ton straight truck in the northern part of the state, going about 30 mph on a slight upgrade. A semi tractor-trailer coming downhill locked up his brakes on the wet asphalt and crossed the centerline and hit my work truck head on. I had no injuries except for a few bruises from the restraints, but the unbelted semi driver ended up in the hospital. His truck was a lot larger and heavier than mine, and the only reason I survived was because of the seat belt I was wearing.

 

[JDgreen227]

I installed seat belts in the first car I owned back in 1967 even though it wasn't mandatory in my state. Michigan has had a seatbelt law since about 1985, and I feel it's a good idea. Back in mid 1987 I was driving a loaded 20 ton straight truck in the northern part of the state, going about 30 mph on a slight upgrade. A semi tractor-trailer coming downhill locked up his brakes on the wet asphalt and crossed the centerline and hit my work truck head on. I had no injuries except for a few bruises from the restraints, but the unbelted semi driver ended up in the hospital. His truck was a lot larger and heavier than mine, and the only reason I survived was because of the seat belt I was wearing.