Seat Belts

[Nighthawk]

Many times I've seen people with the automatic shoulder harness use it alone without the lap belt, which can actually be more dangerous than none at all.

 

Also, if your car is old enough to not have seat belts, you don't have to wear one. If it was truly an oppressive government they'd force you to modify it. When that happens I'll complain.

[Guest The Shadow Behind You]

I never understood why more cars couldn't be like my Aunts where the seatbelt is hooked to the door, and when the door shuts the seatbelt automatically hooks around you.  I guess car companies are getting payoffs from the local governments not to do that so they can keep on writting tickets...

Those motors are extremely prone to failure and if they do then you don't have the mandated three-point harness for a front seat, only a lap belt. That's why.

it's also the most tacky device ever. Thats why it shouldn't be in ANY car. I'm shocked Manufactors haven't jumped on the Nascar/street racing bandwagon and mandated 5 point harness as the new seat belt system.

[The Czech Republic]

I never understood why more cars couldn't be like my Aunts where the seatbelt is hooked to the door, and when the door shuts the seatbelt automatically hooks around you.  I guess car companies are getting payoffs from the local governments not to do that so they can keep on writting tickets...

Those motors are extremely prone to failure and if they do then you don't have the mandated three-point harness for a front seat, only a lap belt. That's why.

it's also the most tacky device ever. Thats why it shouldn't be in ANY car. I'm shocked Manufactors haven't jumped on the Nascar/street racing bandwagon and mandated 5 point harness as the new seat belt system.

holy shit, you're Choken One

 

 

I don't want to wear a harness in the car! What am I, a two-years-old boy?

[Dr. Tom]

I wear one, and insist my passengers do, because I tend to speed and drive like a demon.

 

But I think it's asinine that people are required to wear seat belts.

[Guest cosbywasmurdered]

I forget to wear it in my work truck, which is usually pretty bad news, considering I use my laptop while driving sometimes, as well as talk on the phone.

 

In my (well, my mom's car) or my gal's car, I wear it, because it's habit.

GRRR...

[Guest netslob]

Because if some fucker goes through his windshield and dies I would forever have to live with the thought that they died in an accident that happened with me. Even if it was because someone's too lazy to wear it it still effects other people believe it or not.

 

so your not so much worried about someone getting hurt, just that it might make you feel guilty. oooooooooo-kay.

 

In my experience they usually don't even give you the ticket if you put it on and don't act like a dick about it. Netslob does tend to act like a dick now and again, so I'm not surprised in his case.

 

right back atcha, spunky.

 

i love how my opinion makes me a dick. all i'm saying is even tho it does save lives, i shouldn't be forced to wear one. that's it. that's all i meant. if that makes me an "asshole" or a "dick", then whatever.

[Guest cosbywasmurdered]

you endanger other people though, so yes, you should have to.

[Nighthawk]

In my experience they usually don't even give you the ticket if you put it on and don't act like a dick about it. Netslob does tend to act like a dick now and again, so I'm not surprised in his case.

 

right back atcha, spunky.

 

i love how my opinion makes me a dick. all i'm saying is even tho it does save lives, i shouldn't be forced to wear one. that's it. that's all i meant. if that makes me an "asshole" or a "dick", then whatever.

No, it wasn't in reference to anything you said here.

 

But hey, maybe they just gave you the ticket because they don't like fat people.

[Guest netslob]

yeah, maybe.

[the max]

I forget to wear it in my work truck, which is usually pretty bad news, considering I use my laptop while driving sometimes, as well as talk on the phone.

 

In my (well, my mom's car) or my gal's car, I wear it, because it's habit.

GRRR...

I don't have a choice. My work cell rings every seven minutes per hour I work. I averaged it out during one of my recent bouts with insomnia.

 

Plus, it's hard driving in unfamiliar areas, not knowing where you're going.

[iggymcfly]

I always wear them when I'm on the freeway or something, and I usually wear them in town when I'm in Washington, because their seat belt tickets are about five times as expensive as the ones in Montana.

 

I really do think that the government has no right to mandate their use though. The government's supposed to protect inidividuals' freedom, not hold their hand on safety issues.

 

As for airbags, I really agree that they're bullshit. They don't really help you at all, and they fuck up your car if they go off. When my airbags went off, they didn't even touch me, but they did break my windshield and ruin my upholstery.

[Kahran Ramsus]

I always wear it. Instinct. I don't even think about putting it on, I just do it.

[The Czech Republic]

I really do think that the government has no right to mandate their use though. The government's supposed to protect inidividuals' freedom, not hold their hand on safety issues.

Yeah exactly. Wearing a seatbelt is just common sense. No need to punish victimless ignorance.

[Guest FromBeyondTheGrave]

"No way, it messes up my cool threads."

[Hoff]

An airbag saved my life about three years ago. I had to meet someone for lunch, I was flying on not much sleep, and on the way home I forgot to buckle up. My mind wandered and I ran a red light, slamming into the front left side of the hood of a SUV. The guy ended up fine, his car just supn around a bit, but I was going at about 30 and God knows what would have happened, but for the airbag. I know there's the claims of people being injured because of them, but the concept isn't a bad one by any means.

 

Anyway, I always buckle up, and for what it's worth I appreciate the law. The government is simply trying to protect you from yourself. The law is designed not to step on your rights, but to KEEP YOU ALIVE. I dig that. As for passengers, I don't force them to do it. I encourage it, but I also hit them with the caveat that if I get the ticket (to my understanding, in MN, the driver is liable), they're paying. That usually works.

[The Metal Maniac]

I really do think that the government has no right to mandate their use though.

 

I like how people complain that the government is forcing them to drive in a certain manner...without seeming to realize that EVERYONE drives according to what the government says.

 

You can't drive if you don't pass the test. You can't drive is your car isn't insured. You can't drive if your car is unsafe. Driving, in and of itself, is a priviledge. So I don't see where all this nonsense about being "forced" to wear seatbelts come from.

 

You're already forced to drive according to certain laws; what's one more?

[The Czech Republic]

The government is simply trying to protect you from yourself.

That's not the job of the government.

[Nighthawk]

Says you. The government says otherwise.

[The Czech Republic]

Correction: it wasn't the intended job of the government.

[Hoff]

I have to preface this with the admission that I'm not too up on my Revolutionary-era history, but, doesn't it say somewhere that the government is intended to protect life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness? Because that's a fairly good argument for seat belt laws. "Seat belts save lives" isn't just a catchy slogan.

 

I can understand the view that our lives are ours to do what we please with, but at the same time, they do have that responsibility to protect us. Think of it this way: your parents made decisions for you when you were younger because they couldn't trust you to make the right ones. Not wearing a seat belt is very much a wrong decision, at least in terms of common sense and self-preservation. So, like your parents, the government steps in, because you're making a bad choice.