Discussion on How often do you wear a seat belt? / LJWorld.com

On How often do you wear a seat belt?

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BABBOY 4 months ago

Well the car beeps at you if you do not........

Knew a guy once who cut the latch off the belt, clicked it in the reciever, and killed the beeping. Went along great till he got pulled over for a missing headlight and the officer saw it... THAT was an interesting ticket. Something about tampering with safety equipment or somesuch.....

gccs14r 4 months ago

There's a seatbelt demonstrator that is used in high schools to show the kids how well they work. Anyone who receives a seatbelt ticket should have to go for a ride in the demonstrator and watch a few ejection videos.

edson443 4 months ago

Not so much in town unless there is a KU game or the students are getting back from break. Traffic can be crazy and unpredictable during those times.

gccs14r 4 months ago

So you think 30 mph isn't dangerous? Try running into a tree on foot. Now imagine slamming your chest into the steering wheel at three times that speed.

George_Braziller 4 months ago

Or being hit head-on from someone who is also driving 30 mph. The total impact force is close to driving 60 mph into the same tree.

Did_I_say_that 4 months ago

Are you sure of the physics?

I have read that it is not the energy (forward motion) but, rather the rate of change of momentum (deceleration). Assuming equal symmetry of vehicles, there would be no difference between hitting a brick wall or a vehicle head-on. Either way, the stop is the same. The energy of each vehicle is absorbed within its own crumple zones, etc. The forward momentum of the passengers would only be that of their vehicle. If the on-coming vehicle were faster or heavier, that would alter the rate of deceleration, thus increasing by some margin, the effective speed of travel.

This physics myth is said to result from the fact that head-on collisions do not occur in perfect mirror-image symmetry. For example, the Yugo passengers experience a far greater impact then the driver of the semi-tractor they hit head-on - creating the appearance of 30 mph + 30 mph = 60 mph.

George_Braziller 4 months ago

Two identical 1982 Ford Fairmonts driving 30 mph and having a head-on collision has double the force on impact of one driving into a stone wall at the same speed.

vertigo 4 months ago

Incorrect.

The misconception in the two-vehicle scenario is basically that this applied force is double that, ie. the equivalent to 60mph times the mass of the vehicle.

However, think about where this force is coming from in the two-vehicle scenario: It's coming from the second vehicle. But the second vehicle is also traveling at 30mph and has the same mass.

So we have two forces: Vehicle 1 applies the equivalent of 30 mph times its mass to vehicle 2, and vehicle 2 applies an equal force to vehicle 1. This causes both vehicles to stop right there.

Where would the additional 30 mph times the mass of the vehicle come from? Vehicle 1 cannot apply that force to itself. It's applying it to vehicle 2. So where is it coming from?

The answer is that it's not coming from anywhere because the force applied to vehicle 1 is not 60mph times the mass, but only 30mph times the mass. The same as with the rock wall.

Think also about this: If you applied a force equivalent to 60 mph times the mass in the opposite direction of vehicle 1, that would actually make vehicle 1 change direction and go backwards at 30 mph after the collision. Conversely it would also make vehicle 2 do the same. That doesn't happen.

George_Braziller 3 months, 4 weeks ago

Don't think it really matters what the impact speed is if you aren't wearing a seat belt and are dead after going face first through the windshield.

Liberty275 3 months, 4 weeks ago

"So you think 30 mph isn't dangerous?"

In a modern car, 30 MPH is not dangerous enough to warrant seat belt use. Between crumple zones and airbags, you are pretty safe.

George_Braziller 3 months, 4 weeks ago

Ever been rear-ended at a stoplight at that speed? Even wearing a seat belt you bounce around like a rubber ball.

optimist 4 months ago

It's never a bad idea to wear your seat belt. I make it a point to wear mine pretty much anytime I am in the car. That said I don't approve of a law requiring adults to wear seat belts. It has no bearing on the safety of others and therefore should not be legislated. Before those of you out there make the silly point that we all pay when someone is injured I make two points: 1. if that is the standard for government to encroach on civil liberties the bar is low and there is nothing government can't do to the individual, and 2. there are some occasions, though rare, that the seatbelt may cause injury or death. The bottom line, government should stay out of our business. It's not like any of us believe those making the laws to be the most ethical or competent people on the planet. Consider that when you ask for another law.

gccs14r 4 months ago

"That said I don't approve of a law requiring adults to wear seat belts. It has no bearing on the safety of others and therefore should not be legislated."

It does bear on the safety of others. If you're not belted in, then you're using your hands and feet to try to stay in your seat instead of using them to guide the vehicle. Worse, you can be moved completely out of your seat or even out of the vehicle, at which point the vehicle has no guidance at all, nor is it going to stop until it hits something (else).

gccs14r 4 months ago

As a followup to this, on YouTube there is a video of Jeremy Clarkson of Top Gear trying to spin donuts in a semi tractor while not belted in. Not only did he not manage to spin a donut, he took the shift lever up his bunghole when he fell out of the seat, and he lost control of the truck.

sunshine_noise 4 months ago

Okay those who DON"T wear their seatbelt - knock that arrogance and ignorance off your shoulder and "Buckle up for Safety". Take it from someone with experience. I was hit from behind and Thank God I had my seatbelt on, because had I NOT my face would have gone into the steering wheel or better yet windshield. Most likly breaking my jaw, nose or other bones in my face or causing brain damage. That seat belt ejected me backward into the seat. Yes I did get whiplash and endured a number of years of therapy with Chiropracters and massage therapist, but I can say today after 26 years I am without severe pain (though I still see a massage therapist on occasion to keep my neck limber). Better than dealing with a scared or deformed face or possible brain damage. All because I WORE MY SEATBELT. My rule whenever anyone gets into my car is I do not start the engine until everyone is buckled up and if someone unbuckles I pull over and stop the car until they rebuckle. "BUCKLE UP FOR SAFETY."

Frankie8 4 months ago

Excellent comment. Thank you!

koman 4 months ago

There should be a separate lane for anyone not wearing a seatbelt in a car, or a helmet on motorcycles - then that whole thing Darwin was working on would kick in and, over a few generations, the problem would take care of itself.

LadyJ 4 months ago

I watched the LPD giving out tickets at a local elementary school to parents that did not have their kids in seat belts. The very next day those parents showed up with the kid still without a seat belt.

gccs14r 4 months ago

When my nephews were little, I had zero trouble with getting them to buckle up. One, we didn't move unless they were buckled in, and two, they saw that I always used my seatbelt. Leading by example and being consisten can work.

grammaddy 4 months ago

The key doesn't even go into the ignition until everyone"makes it click."

vicblthndr 4 months ago

IF the sate of Kansas is so set on enforcing the seat belt law, then why did the stupid legislatore repeal the helmet law for motorcycles. Wonder wht happens to a persons head when suddenly stopping and head hits a solid object? Just drop a watermelon ten feet to a payment. SQUISH!!!!!

whats_going_on 4 months ago

ten feet to a payment?

hehe ;-)

whats_going_on 4 months ago

It just feels "off" if I try to drive without it.

whats_going_on 4 months ago

pun intended

Ron Holzwarth 4 months ago

It is now 2013, and 1978 was 34 years ago. Well over 30,000 people a year are killed in car accidents in the USA, but it used to be much higher before the new cars came with all the safety equipment. So, that makes well over one million fatalities. That's actually very conservative.

Seat belts can cut that number down by more than half at least, careful driving by even more. So, out of over 1,000,000, there were 2 that died in that crash. And I wonder, was the driver sober? Plus there's another thing - if you have your seat belt on, you're much more likely to be less injured, and thus able to unlatch your seat belt. If you don't have it on, chances are good you won't be able to get out of the car. Maybe that's what happened.

Let me guess, you play the lottery and expect to win, right? One out of 500,000, happens all the time, right? That's how you make your life choices?

Plus, you might read the newspapers closely. In so many of the fatal accidents, the deceased did not have a seat belt on.

"It can't happen to me."

Ron Holzwarth 4 months ago

Why did you put that posting there then?

I hit a tree head on at 65 mph, and was a passenger in a flip and roll, again at 65 mph. I was uninjured in the headon collision, and I scratched my wrists on the flip and roll, that's how my choices worked out for me, thanks to the use of my seat belt.

I could write plenty of horror stories of car accidents myself it if I chose to. But what you did is typical of someone who is making excuses for not wearing seat belts based on extremely limited data.

I've been studying the subject since 1970, so I have a head start.

Ron Holzwarth 4 months ago

And yes, I do have a burning to death story too. I was almost involved in the accident myself. Everyone consoled themselves by saying "Well, he didn't scream, and blood was coming out of his mouth, so maybe he was dead already and didn't burn to death."

He left a widow and two young daughters. I missed being involved in that accident by maybe 15 to 20 minutes, due to a premonition that there was something terrible going to happen on that road real, real soon. So, I delayed my trip by a few minutes, and then I came upon the accident scene shortly after it was over.

I have premonitions quite often, as a guess, maybe 6 to 8 times a year.

Ron Holzwarth 4 months ago

There are a couple reasons given for why motorcycle riders don't like to wear helmets, and one is that your peripheral vision is greatly reduced with some styles of helmets, so you're not as likely to see a car approaching from the side.

The other reason given is that with a helmet on, you can't hear a car approaching, and you won't know it's there.

When I was riding a motorcycle, and I still have my motorcycle license, I used to drive on almost deserted country rounds out in western Kansas, and cross country in the dirt. I suppose I wore a helmet once in a while, but with the relatively slow speeds I rode at, the very few cars around, and none out in the cross country dirt that I liked to ride on, it just didn't seem necessary.

Of course, on the roads around here, I would never dream of riding without a helmet - if I would dare to ride a motorcycle at all. Dirt biking was so much more fun anyway!

rando1965 4 months ago

http://www.motorists.org/seat-belt-laws/testimony

costello 3 months, 4 weeks ago

I started wearing my seat belt after a guy I went to high school with was killed at 10th and Kentucky in an accident he would have walked away from virtually unscathed if he'd had his seat belt on. Come to think of it, this may be the anniversary of his death. I believe it was Super Bowl Sunday, 1984?

He was about 23, married for 5 months, just started law school. He and his wife had just left church and were driving down Kentucky Street when another driver failed to stop at the stop sign at 10th street. The impact just behind his door, caused it to fly open and he was thrown out and killed.

I've never failed to wear a seat belt since, and twice I've had occasion to be grateful for it.