Seat safety Switch? What is the point?

[old and tired]

What is the point?

The point is so that the companies can defend itself from another law suit. They are there because someone (before having safety switches) was able to demonstrate there was a need for them.

Case in point, John Deere selling small tractors without proper ballast to offset what the loader can safely lift...

 

[oosik]

I can start my Kubota M6040 while standing next to it. A practice I've since discontinued. If my chipper is installed - a buzzer will sound for about ten seconds - when I stand to get off the tractor. Nothing stops and after the tens seconds the buzzer shut off.

 

[k0ua]

We are a litigious society. When we do something stupid like operate our tractor without proper ballast or start it while standing on the ground without making sure it wont run over us, we want it to be someone else's fault. We want to be make whole. We cannot accept that we "messed up" and go on if we are still alive or our relatives accept we were stupid. No they want a big wad of money to compensate them. "I didn't know" becomes an excuse for not reading the owner's manual. And besides, corporations have deep pockets, and they can afford it. Lets get some while the getting is good. So that is why we have safety equipment. It saves lives sometimes, it saves injuries, it saves money. Sure it is a PITA sometimes when it doesn't work and leaves us stranded in a field. But it is the price we pay for the way in which society thinks. 100 years ago it would have been unheard of to sue a company for a mistake YOU made. But not today. We want to be "made whole" and then some. We don't want bad things to happen to us EVEN if we are as dumb as a box of rocks. First you must place blame, and it is ALWAYS someone else's fault. This the the order of things.

 

[RjCorazza]

I sure wished my sister was wearing a seat belt. It would have saved 20 years of anguish for my family, and especially my parents; she was decapitated at 19 years old when her car rolled over.

Drifting off topic, but your post reminds me of exactly what PTSD is. I was instantly taken back 30 years to a foggy, damp early morning where a very young lady was partially ejected through a moon roof during a slow speed car roll over on a bank adjacent to the roadway... Boyfriend messing around. I didn't know these folks, but add it to the hundreds of other "1 in a million" accidents over the years and they take a toll.
Sorry for your loss.

 

[22R]

While I am all for safety and there have been some good things from all the interlocks, On a similar note I rebuilt a 19" 2 stroke lawn-boy I use rarely for push cutting. It has a throttle and a Red kill button (That is it). It is sure light and nice to operate. two things though ya gotta be a lil smarter than the machine and love the smell of the two stroke oil in da morning. Be safe and think Guys.

22R

 

[PILOON]

But to get a ticket (seat belt) for driving to the mail box 1/4 mile from a dead end?
50 (or more) cyclists blow stops at a bicycle crossing while the LEO is standing there? (says he did not see them)

10 MPH on a dead end with 2 cars/hr still gets U a fine around here, but drive a 4 wheeler or bicycle without a helmet is OK.

I thing something is screwed up.

 

[Peter 315]

No seat belt or helmet required in NH.... seatbelts only in a cdl truck

 

[newbury]

As a teenager, our next door neighbor rented a skid steer to remove some railroad tie retaining wall. you got the bucket wedged in between two layers and instead of them coming apart, they stayed attached, so he picked up the whole 20' long wall. Predictably, the skid steer tipped forward and landed on its nose (ended up tipped forward at a 45 degree angle).
He did not have a seat belt on and was unable to run the hand and foot controls at the same time to lower the boom and let the skid steer tilt back down.
I was able to get in it, buckle up so that I could hang off of the seat belt, then start the skid steer and drive it forward as I lowered the boom so that it ended up flat on the ground again.
It made all the difference in the world having a belt on.

Aaron Z

So someone did something REALLY STUPID you got in and saved his MACHINE. What would have happened if you didn't?

I will second the seat belt needed. Some of the slopes I operate on here requires the seat belt belted in so you can actually operate the tractor. Otherwise you slide forward in the seat up against the steering wheel. The seat belt makes operation much easier.

Then maybe the slopes are too steep.

So... I am following you very close at 75, and so far nobody has told me what my expiration date is.... I surely don't what to rush it...

Dale

Did you check closely for a barcode?

No seat belt or helmet required in NH....only in a cdl truck

They require helmets in CDL trucks?

 

[Peter 315]

So someone did something REALLY STUPID you got in and saved his MACHINE. What would have happened if you didn't?

Then amybe the slopes are too steep.


Did you check closely for a barcode?

They require helmets in CDL trucks?

No just seat belts....

 

[WM75Guy]

Should I be wearing a hard hat for falling meteorites?

No, because the hard hat WILL NOT save you from a falling meteorite, so no use wearing it. The velocity is too great. It is gonna smash yer punkin head. And that's that...

What the hard hat lacks is a sufficient crumple zone. Wrapping multiple layers of crinkled up tinfoil around your head before putting on the hard hat will improve your odds of survival.

Also the TBN rule applies, no pictures, it didn't happen. :thumbsup:

As to the original question, I wear my seatbelt, keep the ROPS in the up position, and don't disconnect safety devices. I figure they are there for a reason. Treated too many people in the ED that didn't heed safety precautions or disconnected safety devices. I try not to be a statistic like them.