Britbike forum Forums Thread Like Summary - How do you even DO this .... ?

News item today in the local paper ...

At 2:12 p.m. Saturday (March 27), Virginia State Police responded to a two-vehicle crash on Route 617 (Gravel Hill Road) close to a mile east of Route 15.

A 2007 Lincoln MKZ was traveling on Gravel Hill Road when it crossed the center of the roadway and struck a 2010 Chrysler Town and Country.

The driver of the Lincoln, Hunter T. Absher, 26, of Dillwyn, died at the scene. A passenger in the Lincoln, Nicole D. Clarke, 25, of Scottsville, also died at the scene. Neither were wearing a seatbelt.

The driver of the Chrysler, Melinda J. Moore, 30, of Jetersville, was transported for treatment of non-life-threatening injuries. She was not wearing a seatbelt.

The crash remains under investigation.

There's an article like this every day in one of the local papers. 90% of the time in these crashes, NO ONE in the car is wearing a seatbelt.
How do you even DO this in a modern car? My 1990 car beeps at me once, then leaves a little dash light on if I've forgotten to buckle up. Our 2002 was a bit more strident - it NEVER stopped beeping if you didn't buckle up. Our 2012 is a right nagging b***** .... it beeps, flashes lights, won't let you use the cruise control, all kinds of things. And it's very uncomfortable if you buckle the harness behind you and then try to sit on it.

I've always used a seatbelt; not because it's a law (THAT particular social code has been broken for good), but because it holds me in the seat on hard turns, and I've realized that all this protective steel around me (that I don't have on a bike) is just a weapon against me, NOT a barrier to keep me from getting hurt, if I'm not belted in.

So (A) What do people have against seatbelts? It's not like you can run around inside the car without one. and (B) How do they defeat them? Most of the cars in the crash news are late-model ones with all the latest nanny-protections - it looks like it would be more trouble to defeat them, or sit on them, than to just use them. I know lots of people who don't do certain things that the state tries to force them to do, just out of principle, and I understand THAT, but I've never ridden in a car (theirs or mine) where the driver and passengers didn't buckle up. I don't even know how to look for them.

But apparently there's a lot of them out there somewhere, and all crashing and dying, it seems ... ?

Just one of those things that makes you say "Hmmmmm ......"

Lannis

Darwinism.........classic example......why care?

I quit worrying about it and just chock it up to:

Stupid should hurt.



Sometimes, it should be a life lesson......

For the same reason people don't wear helmets.

Ditto Rich and Gordon

Problem is, one or both might have left kids behind which makes it worse.

Stupid seems to be even more contagious than COVID these days.

Or we got lucky and they haven't reproduced and removed those genes from the gene pool.

I still sometimes put my right arm (USA) in front my passenger if I hit the brakes a bit hard. Anyone else?

Myself and our very own Allan G had a crash in 2016 in the white van. The guy in the red Jaguar just crossed the lines and hit us virtually head on!! We were both wearing seat belts and escaped with broken ribs and bruising but we're still here..

Lannis lad, to stop all them bells and whistles going off, simply plug the seat beat in BEFORE you get in the car, then sit on the belt and drive off. Seen loads of idiots doing that...

They need to drive around Paris like I've been doing since Christmas, it's so bloody manic I'm even thinking of not only wearing me seat belt, but also wearing me crash helmet, and that's in a 40t Truck....

So lets get this right.
The man who proclaimed that covid was no worse than the flue and the government had no rights to restrict his personal freedom to go where ever he pleased then further protested about the infringement of personal freedom by legislating for compulsory face masks.
Is he now critising people exercising the same freedom of choice for not wearing a set belt ?
Oh and I rather think 550,000 deaths is a touch higher than the abnormally high flue deaths of 60,000 you used to dismiss Covid concerns a few months back .

I never worried too much about it, but I never owned a Pinto.
That '73 Beetle met an errant GMC Jimmy, which crossed the center line. Just proves that if you have a head-on in a Beetle you're not automatically dead. To its credit, the fuel tank, which of course is in the front, never leaked a drop.

I'm not a big fan of regulation, but even looking at a phone while driving should have the same penalty as a DUI.