Do you wear your seatbelt?

[mom'sfolly]

I'm really pleased to see the number who always wear their seatbelts.

At my nearly nine-year-old's physical last summer I asked the doctor what the height and weight recommendations were. The doctor said 80 pounds and 4' 9"; I turned to my then 50-55 pound son and said he would be the only 7th grader still in a booster. We laughed, but he never said boo about not being in his booster. He's made the height cut off and is still under for weight, but is out of the booster now.

 

[flowerchicks]

In Calif. it is manditory, but I DO NOT like the gov. telling me what I have to do, even so, I wear my seatbelt INSPITE of the law, not because of it. I wear it because it is smart. I have been in 2 accidents that would have resulted in serious injury to me if I was not wearing my seatbelt. One of them was a roll-over on the highway where my Bronco II ended up in the divider upright, but all the windows were busted and ALL the contents of my car were strewn across the road. That would have been me if I hadn't been wearing my seatbelt. My only injury was a cut on my left elbow from the glass. I just held onto the steering wheel the whole time thinking "dont let go, don't let go". Not wearing a seatbelt is Darwin at work as far as I am concerned.

 

[thechickenchick]

mom'sfolly :

I'm really pleased to see the number who always wear their seatbelts.

At my nearly nine-year-old's physical last summer I asked the doctor what the height and weight recommendations were. The doctor said 80 pounds and 4' 9"; I turned to my then 50-55 pound son and said he would be the only 7th grader still in a booster. We laughed, but he never said boo about not being in his booster. He's made the height cut off and is still under for weight, but is out of the booster now.

Me too! I am really pleased by the results of this poll

 

[PotterWatch]

My family wears seatbelts 100% of the time. No exceptions.

 

[dancingbear]

When I was younger I didn't, then I met my DH, and he was a stickler for wearing seat belts. When we bought a P/U and a camper shell for camping, he installed a 3rd belt in the center of the front seat, (bench seat, of course, old truck) so we could take one of the kids with us in the truck. He wouldn't allow any of them to ride in between us until he got that belt installed.

We took a week-long camping/fishing trip, and his 12 y/o son went with us. On the way home, we had an accident. We went around a mountain curve, right into a herd of deer. DH was driving, and though he knew better, he hit the brake. It's instinct, sometimes it's wrong. We went into a spin, went off the road, and rolled off the embankment. The truck rolled over two or three times before it stopped, upside down, with us hanging upside down. We were able to carefully release the seat belts, careful to land on shoulders, and not on our heads. All three of us walked away from that with minor bruises, mostly from getting hit with thermoses, flashlights, and other items in the cab of the truck with us. Had we not been wearing seat belts, who knows what would have happened. I'm sure it would've been a lot worse than a few bruises.

A couple of years later, I was on my way to work late at night, and a teenage girl, who did not have the right-of-way, turned left right into me, we had a not-quite-head-on collision, driver's side corner to driver's side corner. My seat belt kept me from going through the windshield, though I did hit my head on the mirror. I had injuries, pretty bad ones, that occurred on impact, so they most likely would've been the same, but there would have been more, if I'd also gone flying.

I'm so glad DH was so insistent about the seat belts, and was insistent about me doing likewise, and I had developed the habit. I always wear mine now, and so do any passengers in my car. Nothing like a little personal experience to drive a point home.

 

[Oven Ready]

Driving here is more of a bloodsport than an A to B process.

Very few people wear seatbelts, 20 people in the back of a pickup, people sit on top of trucks, six people and a dog can squeeze onto a 100cc moped, having tail lights is semi-voluntary, drive on the left (unless you want to drive on the right), in the event of heavy rain immediately drive your truck into the nearest large tree. Feral dogs are all over the road - alive and dead.

This isn't supposed to be funny.

Yes - Our truck never moves until everyone is belted-up.

 

[Sassymygirl]

I wear mine all the time, and I always make sure everyone in the car is wearing theirs too.

 

[Mahonri]

Almost always.

on rare ocassions I catch myself without it on.

 

[Cattitude]

I'm another fossil who can remember cars without seat belts. I never bothered with them till my mid-30s. Now it's automatic... I get in the car seat, I reach for the seat belt. And the drowning scenario... I have a pocket knife that I'd use to cut myself free, if I managed to stay conscious. I also have a fleece cover on my shoulder harness to protect my neck from damage.

What changed my mind on seat belts? It was when I read about a mom in the passenger seat, unbelted, holding her baby. When they wrecked, she crushed her baby against the dashboard with her body. She walked away from the car but never recovered mentally from knowing that she lived, at the expense of her baby's life.

I never want anyone to die in my car. Put on your seat belt.

 

[EweSheep]

My uncle just survived a SUV wreck last week. A teenager flying down the country road at 80 MPH, crashed into my uncle's Expedition with his Ranger truck. Both of them managed to get out of the wrecks with bumps and bruises however my uncle ended up in the hospital for more than a week because of his concussion and pains all over and he is 68 years old. Old bodies don't heal well.

Anyway the teenager has now got five counts against him, including DUI. He was not wearing a seat belt but managed to get checked out and came out ok.

My uncle was wearing a seatbelt but got bruises from the seatbelt extenders, got concussion, a couple of stitches here and there. If his wife was sitting at the passenger's side of his truck, she would not survive. The door was caved in.

Both vehicles were totalled. The teenager was so upset with his truck and said it was my uncle's fault for not paying attention. However my uncle has the right of way and there was no stop signs. So teenager will have to serve his time in court after he bailed his bond. Not sure what will happen to him.

As for DD's buckle up, I had to take out the booster seat. She is already over 4 foot 2 and half inches tall, weigh over 65 lbs and the booster seats were very uncomfortable for her, not wide enough nor long enough for her legs (they kept going to sleep in the booster seat).