Ever stopped at a dealer to confim how great your current car is?

[Oval_Overload]

My friend Dan always wore a seatbelt... as far as I knew. He died when he crashed his Volvo, not wearing a seatbelt. He always wore the belt when he rode in my car because he knew I'd make a stink about it.

I crashed SCarlett last fall, and I would be quite thoroughly dead if I hadn't been belted. I was and crawled out with just a few cuts. Unless you wish to die, just wear the damned thing (and make sure it still works properly)

~Jim

[jmf]

Why would you not wear a seat belt? It takes two seconds to put on. I've never heard of someone that would have survived if they didn't have a belt on.

[Dave's Civic Duty]

Originally Posted by RH77

Same here: Volunteer Fire/EMS (vehicle extrication specialized) and a paid Ambulance service in a large district in SE Ohio. My assigned rig at the paid EMS service was generally the first dispatched on "MVAs". Having had I-70 run through both departments increased the accident rate compared to other agencies. Coal truck hauling on switchback, mountainous roads proved dangerous as well. Having also worked in a Trauma Center / ER in the KC Metro Area has shown the exact same situation in a variety of vehicle contexts.

Seriously, belts are the simplest form of safety, and in my informal poll of survival rate, post incident or DOA, there's NO argument. Maybe it takes seeing that kind of graphic detail of trauma to the human body to get the point across.

In this case, there's a line between "civil disobedience" and "ignorance".

Again, we're not going to change opinions of the closed-minded. I often wonder why I try.

RH77

I was talking w/ a friend that was a Medical Dr. Had his share of emergency room experiences. We were having the conversation on what one could do to prolong ones life, I'd figure he would say, eat right, get plenty of exercise, take an aspirin every day, etc. He said #1, wear your seat belt & #2, do anything you can, to not get shot!

You guys are the smart ones on the planet, you can at least wear a seat belt!

Dave

[jamesqf]

Originally Posted by Dave's Civic Duty

We were having the conversation on what one could do to prolong ones life, I'd figure he would say, eat right, get plenty of exercise...

I think you're missing an important point there. I do those things because it improves my QUALITY of life, right now. I like not having a belly flopping over my belt, and being able to hike or cross-country ski all day without being stiff & sore the next... If doing that prolongs my life too, that's just gravy.

But by the same token, there are risky things I do because having the chance to enjoy doing those things is part of what makes life worth living.

[user removed]

Originally Posted by Dave's Civic Duty

She's a bute Clark! Is that her latest pic?Is this the car that was rebuilt & bought back & forth between friends. Great looking paint & detail.

If this is the car, what kind of welder did you use? I need to do some work on an old horse trailer this spring.

BTW, the improvements are mostly frills.

Great looking Civic, you're both right, who needs a new car!

Dave

I do like the looks of that new Crosstour though!

We didn't do much welding on the car, most of the work was on my buddys frame machine which can rip a pickup frame in half. Huge mosnter, at least 25years old.

I have a small Lincoln Mig welder in the garage that works off 110 and can do up to 1/8th inch, more if you preheat the metal.

Not sure where Clark came from , names Gary.

Anyway, the storm is coming today, here is another pic of the car outside in the snow that has been on the ground for a week, and the 69.3 MPG I got in the Insight today.

regards
Mech

[shovel]

I don't see how not wearing a belt would improve the driving experience?

I'm not against safety equipment, as long as it doesn't interfere with driving it's great! I don't feel the need to buy a new car for its improved safety, because I don't feel driving an old car is much of a risk - but it takes no effort to buckle up and it doesn't in any way detract from enjoying the drive, I just can't understand why anyone would choose to not buckle up - but it's your life to risk, people do all sorts of sh i don't understand.

The "safety equipment" I DO have a problem with is anything that interferes with driver control of the vehicle. Anti-stop brakes, "intelligent" drive-by-wire, active yaw control, etc... if the car wants to do the driving it should pay the $#@#$% insurance. .. as long as I'm paying the insurance, I want to make the decisions about my steering, brake and throttle input. It's not about being a control freak, it's about human judgment. The machine can't know what I'm trying to do, or make the decisions I'm making. Maybe I'd rather slam my trunk into an obstacle sideways than hit it head on, for example. If I start making an emergency maneuver that I believe will result in the greatest level of human safety and suddenly the car hijacks my input, that's some bull$% right there. Pay my insurance premiums or let me do the driving, period.

[SentraSE-R]

Originally Posted by The Atomic Ass

I have had a theory for a while, that the increase of safety devices in cars has taken away the danger, the "rolling ball of metal death" feeling of driving a "proper" car.

By "proper" car, I don't mean a '57 Chevy, although it is a nice looking car. A "proper" car to me has handling as it's highest engineering priority, so as to make crashes as unlikely as possible, given to operator ability.

The lack of a feeling of danger in driving a vehicle today I think is the leading cause to the rising number of accidents on the road. People aren't paying attention to the vehicle until its too late.

BTW, I don't wear seat belts as a rule, and actively removed the airbags from the only vehicle I ever owned with them... I did reinstall them before selling it, though.

Sorry, but you won't be representing my team in any logic competition, thank you.

I don't know if there's a rising number of accidents or not, but it's logically the result of more cars on the road, and more miles driven, if such a rise exists. What I do know is the number of automobile fatalities has gone down about 30% due to modern cars being built safer.

Shovel, nothing's keeping you from replacing your 1992 Tempo with a shiny 1963 Rambler. But you aren't going to convince any insurance company actuaries that the average driver can stop faster without anti-lock brakes, feather his gas and brakes better than traction control, or maneuver his way out of a too-hot corner better than VSC. Apologies in advance if I didn't describe their functions correctly, but you get the idea.

[alohaspirit]

[Frank Lee]

That there is an accident waiting to happen... maybe on the road, maybe... um... elsewhere! A very VERY expensive accident....

[gone-ot]

...I flew as an aircrewman for almost eight years in USN aircraft, and "seatbelts" were used 101% of the time.

...since the aircraft was big enough to walk around in (a military version of Lockheed Constellation), we weren't "stuck" in a seat all the time. However, whenever we did sit down, the seatbelts ALWAYS were snapped inplace.

...and, because it was a long-range patrol plane (16-20 hours), there were seven "bunks" for 'off-duty' crewmembers to catch some sleep in...AND even they had seatbelts (huge, 4" wide nylon-like belting) to hold you in-place.

...also, (warning: potty humor coming up) there was even a seatbelt on the "crapper" at the back of the plane to keep you "in-place" when nature called.

...Seatbelts Save Lives! Somebody needs to come-up with a socially-acceptable 'jingle' about wearing them like that for condums: "No love without a glove" (ha,ha)!!