Truth about seat belts

[greatlakes]

Originally Posted by BFlinn181

A citation might be the best you could hope for. In addition you could be held legally and financially responsible for contributory negligence, even vehicular homicide/manslaughter if a passenger is injured or killed while you're driving and they were unbelted. In addition your license could be suspended, your insurance medical or liability coverage quickly maxed out, etc. It's a complicated and expensive world today.

I could also be hit by a train have a brain tumor or win the lotto. Again it comes down to statistical probability. If I told you for a fact you would die by Friday would you live life or stay home locked in a room hoping to beat the prediction. No one ever knows they will be in a serious accident and lots of folks never are. But it happens and we can do things to curve statistics in our favor. But it still should be a choice. That same accident could be with a tanker truck and seatbelt or not, wouldnt matter. Its like buying insurance. If your car is debt free you only need to carry liability to other motorists. You can gamble that you won't need it and maybe your fine or maybe you'll lose and not get a dime for your vehicle. But its your choice.

[Francesca]

The scene:
-Any airplane at takeoff.
The Cast:
-Pilot in charge of the plane
-PWAI (Person With Authority Issues)

Pilot: "Fasten your seat belts."
PWAI: "No. I don't want to. I'm an adult and can make my own choice".
Pilot: "Get off my airplane."

[greatlakes]

Originally Posted by Francesca

The scene:
-Any airplane at takeoff.
The Cast:
-Pilot in charge of the plane
-PWAI (Person With Authority Issues)

Pilot: "Fasten your seat belts."
PWAI: "No. I don't want to. I'm an adult and can make my own choice".
Pilot: "Get off my airplane."

Scene: Any airplane after crash landing.
Cast- bunch of non thinking followers and a person that questions authority. (PTQA)

Pilot- we've just crash landed but everyone please stay seated. The wing is on fire we do not want anyone exiting the plane.
Brainless followers: oh ok.
PTQA- uh the wing its on fire under the fuel tanks the oxygen masks have dropped and the right side of the plane is clear. I'm outta here.

PTQA thinks for himself, leaves right side of plane and has to explain to FAA why everyone else just sat on the plane and died in the explosion.

Btw true story I was on a 727 that crashed in St.Louis. No one died but They wanted us to wait for the fire trucks to put the fire out before exiting the plane.

Besides in your scenario its the FAA that mandates seatbelts not the pilot.

[Francesca]

Originally Posted by greatlakes

Btw true story I was on a 727 that crashed in St.Louis. .

How can that be true?

You'd have had to wear a seatbelt just to get that far-?

[BFlinn181]

Originally Posted by Francesca

How can that be true?

You'd have had to wear a seatbelt just to get that far-?

Beliefs don't have to be true. Facts and science just get in the way of beliefs. Seat belts save lives. That is a fact. Sitting on a seat belt buckle hurts. That is a fact.

[greatlakes]

Originally Posted by Francesca

How can that be true?

You'd have had to wear a seatbelt just to get that far-?

Got me there. Lol
The thing is ya know how they say to put your head between your knees to prepare for a crash? Well we didn't know we were going to crash as it was similar to the recent asiania crash. To low and ripped up landing gear. Which was immediate followed by enough braking or reverse thrust that everyone was in the crash position whether they wanted to or not. Most injuries were from panels and objects in the overhead landing on people.

[Rogerl]

I have no problem with allowing adults to make their own choices, however, should they choose not to wear a seat belt (or helmet if riding a motorcycle) they should be willing to sign a waiver that the government not take care of them for the rest of their life due to a massive head injury or other debilitating injury.

[Francesca]

Originally Posted by greatlakes

Got me there. Lol
The thing is ya know how they say to put your head between your knees to prepare for a crash? Well we didn't know we were going to crash as it was similar to the recent asiania crash. To low and ripped up landing gear. Which was immediate followed by enough braking or reverse thrust that everyone was in the crash position whether they wanted to or not. Most injuries were from panels and objects in the overhead landing on people.

Boy, that flying object thing reminds me of what I consider to be the other big concern with allowing passengers to ride in the living area of motor homes. If luggage in overheads can inflict such injuries, just imagine what a broken-away dinette table might do in the event of a crash!

Or even a few pots that might come flying out of the cupboards...

[Aguyfromcalg]

My kids know the fastest what to make dad go from happy camper to &$*#!! Is to not stay buckled up when motor home is in motion
BTW I always though that being buckled up in your seat when in a plane crash was just to make it easier to identify the victims.

[MotorPro]

I agree that an adult should have a choice to wear a set belt or helmet as long as they agree that no insurance company or gov't should have to pay them or keep then alive since they made the stupid choice to not wear them and have brain damage.

[TRAILERKING]

Originally Posted by Rogerl

I have no problem with allowing adults to make their own choices, however, should they choose not to wear a seat belt (or helmet if riding a motorcycle) they should be willing to sign a waiver that the government not take care of them for the rest of their life due to a massive head injury or other debilitating injury.

ABSOLUTELY............It should be an endorsement stamped right on your drivers license which leaves you on your own for making the choices you've made. People would probably then act differently then.

[Ramzfan]

Originally Posted by TRAILERKING

ABSOLUTELY............It should be an endorsement stamped right on your drivers license which leaves you on your own for making the choices you've made. People would probably then act differently then.

I would go for that...I've never been one that wanted the government dictating to me how I should live, and I've never asked the government for any handouts either!

[Jack1234]

Originally Posted by Rogerl

I have no problem with allowing adults to make their own choices, however, should they choose not to wear a seat belt (or helmet if riding a motorcycle) they should be willing to sign a waiver that the government not take care of them for the rest of their life due to a massive head injury or other debilitating injury.

I don't think it is so much a question of signing a waiver.....this is way too easy and would involve protracted civil litigation (after the fact) to extract assets from the guilty...... much like people who can afford, but choose not, to carry health insurance, yet still rely on society to bail them out in a major emergency. IMO it should be necessary to renew your license annually (at a cost) where you have to "prove" that you have sufficient medical and long term disability insurance to guaranteed that your actions can never have financial consequences for the taxpayer.

If the civil libertarians had to pay thousands of $$$ extra every year to use the public highways ( without helmets or seat-belts) it would be interesting to see how many we're willing to actually put-up or shut-up ...so to speak?

[BFlinn181]

Originally Posted by Ramzfan

I would go for that...I've never been one that wanted the government dictating to me how I should live, and I've never asked the government for any handouts either!

So you don't use your Itasca Meridian or Jeep Grand Cherokee on the public roadways? A lifetime of fuel tax, tolls, registration and license fees wouldn't pay for a mile of highway or a few inches of a bridge or tunnel.

This 'pioneer' spirit is a bit out of date in today's world, unless you wish to go live on an island and not have any contact with society. Everything in today's world depends on shared resources, research, expertise and cooperation. If you injure yourself because you don't have a seat belt buckled or a helmet on, who is going to come scrape you off the highway? A government funded EMS. How will they know to come for you? A government sponsored emergency response communications network. It goes on and on.

We live in a world that needs a better sense of shared responsibility. If I dump pollution on my land, it doesn't stay there, it flows onto someone else's. It always puzzles me, I know a lot of ranchers out west who express their frustration with 'Guvm't meddling in their business' but they scream if they don't get their allotment of shared irrigation water or get charged an extra nickel for grazing their herd on public land. We need each other and we should respect each other.