No seat belts in 42% of fatal police car crashes

[gregintenn]

....so 58% were wearing seatbelts?

Sounds like seatbelts should be banned; not required.

http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2011-01-04-1Acopdeaths04_ST_N.htm

[Erik88]

So you are saying the seatbelt caused their death? That's a big stretch. Seatbelts have saved thousands if not millions of lives. It saved mine.

[DaveS]

Saved mine too....twice!

[Dolomite_supafly]

Not sure if it saved my life but definitely reduced what could have been some serious injuries.

Using a seatbelt is a no brainer. Most people who are steadfast against using them do it because it is a law. If there was no seatbelt law those same people would probably use seat belts.

I know that even if it wasn't law I would still wear one.

Dolomite

[gregintenn]

No doubt I'd be dead today if I wore one. I was hit in the driver's door hard enough to wrap the door around the steering wheel. I was sitting in the passenger's seat unharmed when the wreck was over. Couldn't have done that had I been strapped into the seat the Buik's front bumper occupied.

So you are saying the seatbelt caused their death? That's a big stretch. Seatbelts have saved thousands if not millions of lives. It saved mine.

It's no more a stretch than saying "seatbelts save thousands of lives".

[Murgatroy]

Not sure if it saved my life but definitely reduced what could have been some serious injuries.

Using a seatbelt is a no brainer. Most people who are steadfast against using them do it because it is a law. If there was no seatbelt law those same people would probably use seat belts.

I know that even if it wasn't law I would still wear one.

Dolomite

I never wore a seatbelt.

I was nineteen, put my face through a windshield, bit my lower lip off, knocked all my lower teeth out.

Still wouldn't wear a seatbelt.

I was twenty-one when my fiance ran a stop sign, and hit a car broadside, my brother in the back seat wasn't wearing his seatbelt either.

I 'walked away' with all my top teeth missing, a broken nose, two broken ribs and a sheared hip.

I was the lucky one of the injured that day. There were some that didn't walk way, or live.

After that accident I have always worn a seatbelt. Even if it is a trip to the store. It has a long time since that last wreck, but I reckon I think about it more often than a man ought, and I know I am not the only one. It changed a lot of folks lives that day. Wearing a seatbelt isn't the least of it, but it is a big part of it. It might not have changed what happened to some folks in that wreck, but it would have prevented a good bit of the damage I took. That is enough for me, but means nothing for them.

The one thing I do have a problem with though, being an amateur racer, is the folks that think a seatbelt is useless and dangerous. Forget about a wreck, sure, you are Stroker Ace and you ain't got a thing to worry about, not the soccer moms or the teens that are texting, you are a super driver. But what happens when you swerve to miss the soccer mom who swerved to miss the texting teen that swerved to miss the kid running out to catch the ball? You slide your too good to wear a seat belt ass right across your vinyl seat, off your brake pedal and into your passenger. You lose control and wreck, oh hell, I will even let you imagine that you walk away without a scratch, however, the logic of my seat time trying to learn how to drive faster and safer on a track tells me that a harness isn't just to keep you safe in the event of a crash, it is to keep your ass planted in that seat in the event of hard maneuvers.

But then again, maybe I am wrong, and that one in a million wreck where you need to be thrown from the truck in order to survive is what you will have and you can praise the value of being free of the evil man who wanted you to wear a seatbelt.

It is much like those that won't wear a helmet on a motorcycle, and yes, I ride. Why the hell would you not? Seriously?

Then again, maybe I am just not as brave as the rest of you.

[gregintenn]

My wife rolled a car several times. The only injuries she suffered were a burnt, swollen face and black eye from the airbag, and a broken collar bone from the seatbelt. Could she have been ejected from the car and killed without it? Quite possibly. Could she have been unharmed without them? Quite possibly as well.

I posted this as sort of a joke, but I guess I'm the only one who thought the title of the story was odd.

After reading the responses, my point is: How do you know a seatbelt saved a life? I do not believe anyone can state with any certainty the outcome of a crash with versus without.

I'm sure wearing a seatbelt is probably a good idea. After all, it's been beaten into your brain for years that it is, so it must be true.

[Murgatroy]

Taking the topic into view the way you intended, you are correct. Those aren't good odds.

[Erik88]

My wife rolled a car several times. The only injuries she suffered were a burnt, swollen face and black eye from the airbag, and a broken collar bone from the seatbelt. Could she have been ejected from the car and killed without it? Quite possibly. Could she have been unharmed without them? Quite possibly as well.

I posted this as sort of a joke, but I guess I'm the only one who thought the title of the story was odd.

After reading the responses, my point is: How do you know a seatbelt saved a life? I do not believe anyone can state with any certainty the outcome of a crash with versus without.

I'm sure wearing a seatbelt is probably a good idea. After all, it's been beaten into your brain for years that it is, so it must be true.

I just don't understand you strange hatred for seatbelts. This isn't the first time you posted about it on TGO.

I do agree that I cannot say for absolute certainty that the seatbelt saved my life, but I'm pretty damn sure it helped. My face would have had a rough encounter with the windshield if I didn't have the seatbelt on.

And I'm fairly certain the seatbelt saved your wife's life.......That example should be obvious.

Are you suggestion that Nascar drivers should not wear any seat restraints either? Maybe Dale Jr would have lived if he had been ejected instead???

Edited May 9, 2012 by Erik88

[Lumber_Jack]

18 years old, I rolled a minivan. I may not have died, but injury would have been definite. You cannot say that a seatbelt, in a roll over crash, is not life changing.

There's always the exception where wearing a belt would have resulted in death. A know a guy who was ejected through the windshield. The steering wheel was pinned to the seat in the aftermath. He would have most likely died had he remained seated.

But that is no where near enough odds for me to not wear a belt on the slight chance I might survive the crash. Remember, there are things worse than dying. Surviving brutally maimed doesn't appeal to me much.

[Lumber_Jack]

Plus to know the true statistical data we would have to separate from the 58%, those that would have died regardless of seatbelt use.

We can't just assume that seat belts are miracle live savers. They are just a safety tool that when used properly can aid in surviving or reducing injury in a crash.

[Guest A10thunderbolt]

When I was 19 I was driving from knox down I-40 to loudon on my way to work, Hit a puddle of water at 80mph and started spinning. I don't know how many 360s I did but the seat belt kept me at the wheel. The spinning was hard enough to lock up the seat belt. The morning ended with a tow truck pulling my car out of some brush I ended up stuck in.

[Timestepper]

I guess if we really wanted to oversimplify it we could say, "Seatbelts don't save lives - not getting killed in a car wreck saves lives!" Man, I'm all for that!

[gregintenn]

Plus to know the true statistical data we would have to separate from the 58%, those that would have died regardless of seatbelt use.

We can't just assume that seat belts are miracle live savers. They are just a safety tool that when used properly can aid in surviving or reducing injury in a crash.

Well said. I would prefer to hear truthful statements like this rather than the hype the media drums into everyones' heads.

Don't wear a seatbelt; you die. Eat a hamburger; you die. Smoke a cigarette; you die.

I have no way to prove this, but I firmly believe that if everyone would simply pay attention while driving, it would save far more lives than seatbelts.

My original intent in posting this is to illustrate that statistics can be manipulated to back whatever argument you choose to make.

Edited May 9, 2012 by gregintenn

[jimic]

I agree with seatbelt safety. i dont agree with the way it is enforced.

Edited May 9, 2012 by jimic

[Guest HCRoadie]

I believe there are more instances of seat belts preventing injuries and fatalities, than causing them. And as mentioned earlier, the fact that it keeps up planted when needed is also cool. I wear mine religiously. In fact, I feel awkward without one on while in the car. However, I DO NOT believe it should be the law! The choice to wear it or not does not impact anyone else's personal safety. I do not need a driving Nanny. Now, if you are in a wreck, and it is determined that you were not wearing it, your insurance company should not be obligated to pay for injuries that would not have occurred if you were wearing it. Of course to prove that the seatbelt would have prevented those injuries would a difficult task.

[jimic]

I do tend to agree with your thought.

[Guest 6.8 AR]

....so 58% were wearing seatbelts?

Sounds like seatbelts should be banned; not required.

http://www.usatoday....aths04_ST_N.htm

I got your point. The article was a tad misleading. Overall, it doesn't diminish the role of using seatbelts,

but it does lend to the way articles are written.

[Just2Honor]

HCRoadie, I'm with you but I'll add that if you are not going to wear a seatbelt (or a helmit on a motorcycle) you should have proof of at least a $1 million each of medical and disability insurance. That way the rest of us won't have our medical payments and taxes paying for your choice. The choice is yours but so is the financial responsibility.

[Mark A]

I know that in both on and off road racing there have been times when having belts on was the only thing that kept me in contact with the drivers seat and thus able to still operate the vehicle. I have been in a couple of hard slides in regular cars where the belt kept me in place to get out of the slide.

My mom? She got hit and thrown into a light pole in a big old LTD. the car made a "C" around the pole. She is convinced that if she had a belt on she would have been killed. Hard to argue with that.

All I know is that it is a choice. And in my car, if you don't put on a belt, you've made the choice to walk and not ride with me.

Mark

[gregintenn]

HCRoadie, I'm with you but I'll add that if you are not going to wear a seatbelt (or a helmit on a motorcycle) you should have proof of at least a $1 million each of medical and disability insurance. That way the rest of us won't have our medical payments and taxes paying for your choice. The choice is yours but so is the financial responsibility.

I can get behind that!

[Metalhead]

I'll throw in my 2 cents.

Two years ago I got T-boned in my Ranger. I was leaving the shop and crossing the road to go to Sonic across the street. I had just jumped in the truck and figuring I was just going next door didnt bother to put on my seat belt. The truck that I didnt see crashed into the drivers side door, and tossed me into the passenger seat. If I had been wearing my seat belt, I'd more than likely be a dead man from what I was told after the fact. Luckily I just got away with a broken arm.

That said, I wear my seatbelt approx. 50% of the time. Is that wise? Probably not. Is it stupid? I don't really care. I think for the most part it boils down to personal choice. I have just as much chance to die from being trapped in a collapsing section of a vehicle to being tossed out a window due to no seatbelt. I'd rather just drive the way *I* want to.

[Daniel]

I wear it. I ask my passengers to wear it so that they remain passengers.

[gregintenn]

It seems childish to order adult passengers who ride with you to wear a seatbelt. Would it be any different if you were riding with me and I would not allow you to buckle up?

[Chucktshoes]

It seems childish to order adult passengers who ride with you to wear a seatbelt. Would it be any different if you were riding with me and I would not allow you to buckle up?

My car, my rules. Your car, your rules. Any passenger in my vehicle wears a seatbelt, or they can find another mode of transportation. If I were to get in someone's car and they said no seatbelt, I would get out of the car and find an alternate method of travel.