seatbelt poll

[Guest teigan]

most likely modes of injury would be:

1] spinning off a road, then freefalling

2] decapitation from wedging under a taller vehicle.

seems to me the seatbelt wouldn't be of much aid.

also tell us whether you have airbags as backup.

Edited November 29, 2005 by teigan

[feralsprint]

I can't believe that people don't wear a seatbelt when driving but I guess some people want to die or are just to stupid and like to hang on to the theories about being stuck in a car in accidents or the like. You do not see any race drivers not using a seatbelt and airbags are designed to work with seatbelts.

[Jussi]

Can't imagine driving the car without seatbelt

It's like obsession to me to wear the seatbelt, can't even move the car without wearing one

[molemot]

Don't wear seatbelt for safety - wear seatbelt to improve sense of unity with car. Spent years strapped into ejector seats in aeroplanes and got used to the feeling!

[xwingftr]

Don't wear seatbelt for safety - wear seatbelt to improve sense of unity with car. Spent years strapped into ejector seats in aeroplanes and got used to the feeling!

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

What did you fly, John?

[MKE40]

Don't wear seatbelt for safety - wear seatbelt to improve sense of unity with car. Spent years strapped into ejector seats in aeroplanes and got used to the feeling!

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Quite so ..

Mike

[s4simon]

There's a top video going round the internet at the mo.

The guy driving the car isn't wearing a seatbelt, falls asleep at the wheel, suddenly wakes up (look of horror on his face), weaves a few times, and then car rolls.. He gets flung into the back of the car and ends up half way out the back window with the car on top of his head. Very interesting video - I'll see if I can dig it up today.

[Guest teigan]

i hate those racing harnesses; i tear them off as soon as the car stops. but at least there's a reason for wearing them. most of my drives in the city consist of under 20mph stop and go, so the seatbelt seems superfluous. when i am belted, i need to undo them to get a clear view into the glovebox.

[esprit350]

racing harness

i hate those racing harnesses; i tear them off as soon as the car stops.  but at least there's a reason for wearing them.  most of my drives in the city consist of under 20mph stop and go, so the seatbelt seems superfluous.  when i am belted, i need to undo them to get a clear view into the glovebox.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

these harnesses get me racing!

Edited November 29, 2005 by Bibs

[Guest teigan]

oh how those must chafe. someone should design a W-specific racing harness.

[Jussi]

WOW, where I can get those racing harness? For extra safety I want both of them

[karluk29]

im another none wearer im afraid,,,and i suppose also may be the fat the lock doesnt work lol,,,locks in but releases when you pull it. fors and agaisnts for both sides i suppose.

[Bibs]

An uncle of one of the girls who works for me is currently in a coma having left a car via the rear window last week after slipping on ice. Belt up...

[s4simon]

Found it !

This is what happens if you don't wear your seatbelt

[Evil_Dr_Fish]

<-------- Had I not been wearing my seatbelt at a mere 40mph-ish crash I would have gone through the windscreen (bad enough), hit the box-section crash barrier and faced the prospect of falling 25+feet onto the M25 below.

Seat belts are there for a bloody good reason imo.

[jason S4s]

What about you are doing 'only' 20mph and someone coming the other way at 'only' 20 mph swervers into you, impact speed of 40, you will be dead in any car without a seatbelt on.

One of my friends acouple of years ago was drivign down the road, not too fast, minding his own business and a car pulled out in front of him, he hit it and smashed his head on the windscreen, by a strange coincindence I know the woman who was first on the scene, he was unconcious and fitting, as he did he kept strangling himself on the steering wheel. after 3 days in a coma he died. it was 20th Dec and he was on his way to his parents house to deliver pressies.

If you are too stupid to wear one for your own sake, then do it for your loved ones sake and even for the sake of the poOr inocent passer by who has to try to keep your braindead thrashing body alive untill the paramedics arrive.

End this stupid tread now.

EVERYONE SHOULD ALWAYS WEAR SEATBELTS.

[Loose Cannon]

fors and agaisnts for both sides i suppose.

I'm racking my brains for the "againsts".....got a list?

[Jonathan]

Amazed anyone would not wear one.

I've heard of people having accidents without them and saying "if I'd have been wearing the belt I wouldn't have survived" but that onyl covers the probability of about 2% of accidents, the rest a belt would save / help you.

Personally I wouldn't chance my arm, find it also keeps you in the seat better and that certainly helps when cornering - anyone else tried the CG lock on LEW ? I have one for the Elise and it's very good - don't work well on the GT3 bucket seats though.

[Evil_Dr_Fish]

A good point Jason...

A couple of years ago, I was first on the scene to an accident that happened right in front of me on the M4 - a small Kia or similar was rear-corner, side swiped by a lorry.

It turned, rolled and luckily rolled into the Hard shoulder, bounced off the armco and stopped before it could reach the main carriageway again.

It stopped on the roof. I slammed on the brakes and pulled in from the fast lane to the hard shoulder as quickly as traffic would allow. I was the first person to reach the car. I told them that help was on the way but there was little else I could do, as without REAL medical training, I knew I could do more harm than good if I tried to move them.

To this day I can still hear the woman's voice, pleading with me to help her and get her out.

She had severely broken or dislcoated her arm and apparently if help hadn't got there as quickly as it did, she would surely have lost it.

Had they not been wearing their seatbelts, what I would have seen when I reached that car is beyond what I would like to imagine.

These are not slow cars and we all like to bugger about in them.

I am sure Jonathan would like to add his (only) 40mph crash experience to this thread too....

It's very simple... Don't wear your seatbelt in a crash and you will almost certainly die. That's YOUR lookout. As Jason said - at least have the decency to do it for the poor sod who would find your mutilated corpse by the side of the road.

...

(That CG-Lock - I love the idea of it... My metty seatbelt is poorly made so actually kind of does the same thing by accident and it's great for keeping you put in your seat - and makes you feel a bit more securely held in too )

...

This is Mark Ledger from the Yahoo Forum who crashed a year or so ago...

He walked away with mere bruising but would not be here with us today without his seatbelt

By his own account (Taken from the Wrecked Esprits page on LEW)

On Saturday my Esprit died, we were lucky it was only the car.

The weather on saturady was wet and we were accellerating along straight road to about 60 mph with a car in front and behind. Suddenly the back end stepped out, but the time I had corrected we had already hit the curb and the car was flung off the road into the trees at about 60 mph. The police informed me that the car hit 4 trees before coming to a standstill around 50yds from the road.

There was no bodywork aft of the b pillars except for the engine cover. The rear section and 1 rear alloy wheel was about 50 yds away. the other rear alloy was bent at 90 deg. Both cross struts between the a and b pillars were broken and all glass in the car was smashed. The drivers footwell had collasped onto my right leg and the drivers door had been pushed in against my ribs. I was trapped for a few minutes until my fellow passenger managed to remove enough of the car for me to wiggly out.

As my self and a fellow list member walked away we looked back and both said "How the f**k did we survive that?"

We are both badly bruised and it will be a week before I get back to work. Any other car maybe we wouldn't have walked away but on the other hand any other car and it may have not happened.

Funny thing is I took my car keys out of the ignition before I walked away.

Mark Ledger (ex 89 SE)

[Jussi]

End this stupid tread now.

EVERYONE SHOULD ALWAYS WEAR SEATBELTS.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

This is well said

[Jonathan]

(That CG-Lock - I love the idea of it... My metty seatbelt is poorly made so actually kind of does the same thing by accident and it's great for keeping you put in your seat - and makes you feel a bit more securely held in too )

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Aye - dont use one on modern cars though as most of them have buckle arrestors that actually fire the buckle down into the car to stop you submarining in a crash - if you fit a CG lock you'll probably crack your pelvis !

TBH seat belt made little difference in my accident - the roll over was so smooth (cus I was in a hedge lol - gotta laugh) it actually felt quite comfortable although it must have arrested because my head was not on the roof - it was actually a calm experience....apart from being trapped in near pitch black and no getting out....scariest thing was if the car caught fire

Me: Rings 999

Answer: Where are you

Me: Dont know

Answer: Doesn't help

Me: Track my cell phone

Answer: Can we do that ?

Me: Yes

Answer: We need permission

Me: 10-4 - you have the permission

Answer: No from the chief constable

Me: He'll do it, trust me.

Answer: You need to calm down

Me: You're not the one trapped upside down in the dark surrounded by fuel and an extremely combustable vehicle with no apparent escape route and no one knows where you are

(wasn't funny then btw)

Apparently in the Ambulance the copper asked if I needed anything out of the car, my mate said I responded with "yes, the service revolver please"

[hovgaard]

EVERYONE SHOULD ALWAYS WEAR SEATBELTS.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

He's right.

Around here, modern Volvos are rather common. They have two little red lamps by the rear view mirror that blink red and make annoying clicky noises if you don't wear the belt. So it's quite easy to see if people in those cars don't wear it, and I'm thoroughly amazed how often I see that light. One would have thought that people in Volvos cared about safety, but some are quite happy to cruise the outskirts of town at 100 km/h in plenty of traffic listening to a clicky relay. It's almost always men in their fifties, and never youngsters. What's the point?

'Two things are infinite, the Universe and human stupidity. And I'm not sure about the Universe.' - Albert Einstein

[B33 ENN]

I can't believe this is even being discussed as optional. Would you get on a ferry that didn't at least have life jacket on board?

Personally, I don't carry passengers in a vehicle with me unless they belt up, nor do I ride as a passenger with a driver who doesn't wear his.

End of.

[lrg_machine]

Not even going to qualify this poll with a vote !

Think that while your doing 20MPH Teigan, the person that hits you head on is probably doing a lot more.....................

[Paul C]

If mine broke i would not drive the car.

Reminds me of something that happened when i was an apprentice...

We were working in the plant area above an (empty) swimming pool in

aylesbury leisure center. There were three diving platforms, so it was pretty

high. There were gantries we had to walk along and we were supplied with

harnesses to wear, and to clip on to the rail when we got to where we were

working.

We were scared, but felt invincible with our harnesses! Anyhow, my mate

asked me to bring him a spanner or something, so i walked along the gantry

(but i had forgot to unclip my harness).

RRRRRRIPPP!!!!

Rope went tight, harness ripped to bits and fell off me,

i carried on walking and it fell to the floor behind me!!!!!!

Suddenly, we both felt very fragile...

I can only wonder if my 16 year old seatbelts are as tiptop

as those old plantroom harnessess...