I find it odd that we are so emphatic about requiring belts and airbags but then allow sun/moon roofs. Try buying an upscale car these days without a moon roof. It's almost impossible. In THEORY moon roofs are options, but every upscale car on the lot has one these days and you must special-order some models to get NO moon roof.

In a rollover I want a metal roof over my head, not a hole. The last time I bought a car I wanted a Volvo, but couldn't get it without the stupid moon roof. Bought a Mazda instead. Saved lots of money and got a real roof.

Paladin, the law says that anyone in the car (front seat, anyway) can be fined for not wearing their seat belt. You don't have to be driving. Passengers can also be fined.

I always wear mine. Basically it's habit now, and I don't want to have to pay a fine.

But I don't know that I agree with the law. Maybe people who wear seat belts are less likely to die in an accident; I don't know. There was a person in my family who only survived an accident because they weren't wearing their seat belt and were thrown clear of the vehicle.

Go figure. Fate is fickle.

This is sticking their nose in the tent. Next time out they'll claim that the cops are confused and are stopping people who aren't in that age category and that they need to make it mandatory for everyone.

Get out of our lives and mind your own business.

School buses don't have seat belts for the passengers.

Stop judging her!!! She might not be wearing pants.

Passengers get fined for not wearing their seatbelts also!

Also, if they're going to fine people the fine should be higher than the $15 or $20 it is now. That doesn't even mean anything, and they can't even give it unless the driver was committing a moving violation.

I always wear my seat belt though. My good friend died in a car accident and was wearing one though, so it doesn't always guarantee anything. But, I'll never forget those idiots I've known that CUT the seat belts out of their cars. What are they thinking?

Although, I must say that I'm surprised to hear so many people say they don't wear their seat belts. Why not?

After reading all the posts; some pretty good......what was the question again?? Oh ya........No, I have never been given a fine for NOT wearing a seatbelt. I always wear one.

To the "bus driver" in Topeka!!!! OH....MY......GOSH.

I will go out on a limb here and figure that your answer to the question is regarding when you are driving your OWN vehicle and NOT the school bus.

I am sure glad that not only are you NOT in my home town but, that you do not drive my granddaughter's school bus.

I find it unbelievable that the bus driver would do that, let alone SAY that! Only in Topeka.....

I always wear my seat belt.

OW, Bea!

If I am wearing pants, I will wear a seatbelt.

Otherwise, it pulls my body hair...

TOB, I agree that the awards show was fairly dull and could have been handled much more quickly. And Pan's Labyrinth should have won for best foreign language film. I still enjoyed it and will most likely watch next year. As I said before, it is a guilty pleasure and the only award show I watch.

No to ever being fined, and Yes to always wearing a seat belt. It just makes sense.

kb: Have you also never heard of how medical costs for the uninsured are a burden to the rest of society?

Brandon - I did not misunderstand your argument. You feel the government was/is acting unconstitutionally in adopting a law to require (and/or fine people) wearing seat belts. You argue that people have a right to not wear them and/or harm themselves.

I agree with anyone who objects to governmental interference into private lives and choices. I would prefer those who are too dumb (or depressed) to protect themelves might just be better off gone. I also believe the enforceability problem exists, big time. However, there is no constitutional right to drive, let alone to drive without a seat belt. So if the legislature wants to enact this law, they probably can (legally). And the argument that dying because you didn't wear a seat belt costs no one but the person who didn't wear one is equally flawed. If you can show where no one but the non-seat-belt-wearer suffers a loss as a result of that choice (monetary or otherwise), more power to you!

And for the record, both of my teenaged relatives were taught to wear belts, but ignored that rule (they were alone) and both would have survived (per the Highway Patrol officers who worked the scene) had they worn a belt. There are exceptions to every rule, of course. But the odds of being killed wearing a belt are far lower then if you wear one.

Being thrown from the car is not the only factor to be considered. A belted driver remains in control of their vehicle longer than an unbelted driver who is being thrown across the front seat or out through the windshield.

Brandon it is true, the 100% death rate cannot be regulated out of the human experience, but the death rate for drivers and passengers can be lowered by using seat belts. The driver that is holding the steering wheel as he/she slides across the seat is definitely a danger to pedestrians and other vehicles alike.

People seem to be missunderstanding my argument. I'm not saying seatbelts are bad. Seatbelts are very good and it is a really good idea to use one.

All I am saying is it not the government's place to require the use of a seatbelt.

The argument that it costs society more money if people don't wear seatbelts isn't logical.

Last I checked the death rate is still somewhere around 100%. Everyone will at some point die and at when they do there will be pain and anguish and burdens felt by others. The burdens placed on individuals and society because of failed health and death will always exsist. There is no way around this fact. There is no way to regulate death out of the human experience.

A highway patrolman put it like this: "I've never had to unbuckle a dead person"

"No, we let the EMS workers do that."

I feel naked w/out my seatbelt so don't drive w/out it. (Kind of like leaving the house and forgetting to put on a watch in the days before cell phones.) My children also "remind" me if I'm not buckled up. Thing is, I like to back out of the garage unbuckled and then buckle up. Knowing this, they still "remind" me.

As a "petite woman" of 5'2", I just drive with the seat adjusted to full height, and as far back as I can get and still reach the pedals. My youngest child will probably be in a booster seat until middle school.

"No. They turn on the lights, and I put it on real quick."

• Jennifer Beach, school bus driver, Topeka

Who volunteers to send this one into Jay Leno.

Yes, I remember one sonwy and icy night when my freind Eddi Nickel took off for Emporia with his wife.

Neither wore seat belts and the car slipped off the road because of the ice and rolled.

Both Eddie and and his wife were killed after having been thrown out of the car.

Well, actually the car rolled over on them.

The highway patrol said that both would have most likely survived had they been wearing seat belts.

I once turned a '67 Pontiac Catalina four-door sedan into a '67 Pontiac Catalina two door convertible tricycle and was wearing a seat belt.

Banged about and cut up rather badly, I did survive, much to the chagrin of the Liberals.

On another occasion I ran my Dad's '63 New Yorker through seven small trees, a large stump and into a very large oak tree.

The oak tree lived but the car died.

The car was equipped with lap belts which lept me from slamming too hard into the steering wheel so I escaped with only minor injuries.

A freind of mine drives a '32 Packard 900 sedan for regular transportation; the car is fully restored except for the addition of an air conditioner and seat belts with shoulder harnesses.

He catches all sorts of flack at shows but replies to his detractors, saying, "Old cars get in wreck too!"

Use your seat belts!

See the USA in your Chevrolet but buckle up for safety!

Thanks.

Marion.

Py, "There was a worse danger to petite folk from airbags, but the auto industry, having been sued over that issue, have modified their design and deployment to address the problem."

When did they incorporate the modifications? What model years? How do you find out if a vehicle is "petite safe"?

kansasbrandon~ for the love of god, please get off your mom's computer and head to school. And don't skip English class today--you NEED it.

How does your not wearing a seatbelt impact others? Higher insurance costs when you turn yourself to hamburger. Higher healthcare costs that we all absorb.

What do you think it costs to rehab, nursemaid, and support everyone who is punched through the windshield during a collision because they are not belted in, and wind up braindead and/or quadriplegic for 20-30 years in a long-term-care facility? We all end up paying, in one way or another.

Families are often plunged into poverty and public assistance when the wage earner is incapacitated. The trickle-down effects are myriad. I wouldn't resent this if the catastrophic injuries were not avoidable, but when they could be avoided by a simple "click," it p****s me off that we all have to pay.

mom_of_three~ if it's any small comfort, they have studied this enough to know that for shorter adults, the seat/shoulder belts are still better than nothing and will still save your life in a collision, even though you might have slight injury from the belt hitting you too high.

There was a worse danger to petite folk from airbags, but the auto industry, having been sued over that issue, have modified their design and deployment to address the problem. Since no one is getting killed (just inconvenienced) by the too-high shoulder-belt placement, they don't have any urgency to retool. They are all about the bottom line.

But, yes--it's about time that they stop using males as the models for everything, from seatbelt design to medical studies.

Do you know of anyone who has died because they did not have their seatbelt on? I do. And I still miss him after 40 years. I wonder what he would have accomplished if he had taken the time to buckle his belt. Maybe he would have created something that you would find very important in our life today.

His passenger, who had her seatbelt on, suffered minor injuries. The car suffered minor damages. However he was thrown out of the car and broke his neck. Maybe he would not have lost control of his car if he would have had his seat belt on.

People complain about violating their rights when you require seatbelt use. What about the rights of family, friends, coworkers, innocent victums, etc. How about the persons who have to clean up the results and prepare his body for burial. Do they not also rights????

I have had two teen-aged relatives die b/c they were in horrible car wrecks and weren't wearing a seat belt; no guarantees of safety, I know, but getting thrown from a car is usually a real bad thing. I always put my belt on, and make sure the whole car is buckled up. And the argument that doing something that could result in you killing yourself only impacts you personally shows a lack of appreciation for the amount of havoc a death can have upon all concerned AND society = e.g. who pays for the funeral, who pays for the road clean up, who pays the salary of the cops who work the scene, who pays for the mental health therapy needed for the EMS workers who had to scrap you up afterwards, etc.?

As much as I also dislike "big-brother" "in parentis locos" rules, and appreciate stupid gene pool erradication efforts, most laws that attempt to protect the health, safety and welfare of the general public - even for those folks who don't appreciate the effort - are deemed constitutional.

I enjoy life, therefore, I always wear my seatbelt.

I just don't understand why anyone would chance not wearing one...

No ticket, no warning, I always buckle up. My luck, if I were in a wreck without my belt, I would probably survive and spend the remainder of my days like a mound of pate.

snappy_pop: you gotta watch those Herbies, as you apparently have learned, they take their square dancing quite seriously :)

What a totally inappropriate quote for a bus driver to give the local newspaper . . .

The laws requiring the use of seatbelts are unconstitutional.

In a free society people should have the right to do as they please so long as what they are doing doesn't infringe on another person's rights.

How does my not wearing a seat belt have anything to do with anyone but me?

This is nothing more than the Government assuming a parental role over it's citizins.

Yes, wearing seatbelts saves lives, but it's not the governments job to make people wear them. Just like it's not the governments job to make you wear sunscreen before you go to the beach. Sunscreen saves lives too. Should the government make laws requiring it's use or face a $60 fine?

No.

--

Hey Bea -

I watched the movie show last night. I'm not an awards show type person I guess. They could have wrapped that show up in an hour but it kept going and going and going and it may still be going on right now. The actual giving out the award is interesting. The nonsense in between is mind-numbingly dull. And when they had to rely on a Will Ferrel/Jack Black hackfest for a comedic interlude, well, I guess it's just not for me.

I agree with Marion today (and figure "dies" for "does" could be equal part missing-finger glitch and freudian slip).

To ignore the statistics on seat/shoulder-belt use and how, in a collision, any unbelted person is just a hundred-plus-pound projectile, is beyond ignorant. Most non-wearers like to trot out some apocryphal "woulda burned to death if I'd worn one" story, but, in truth, the number of wrecks in which it can be proven that someone would have been killed or injured worse BECAUSE of being buckled is minuscule.

Now I just wish all the auto makers would perfect the things so that they fit someone other than large MEN comfortably. I'm of avg height for a female (5'5") but fairly slender. For the shoulder belt to hit me where it should, I'd have to gain about 80 lb and really fill up the seat, or grow another 5 inches in height. (Okay--I would do THAT if I could.)

Anyone who doesn't use seatbelts is a complete idiot.

Any school bus driver who dies not use seat belts should be fired forthwith.

Thanks.

Marion.

Nope. All my fines have been for collisions. No speeding tickets or seat belt violations on my record.

And after the way my car was totaled last year, I won't be forgetting to use the seat belt anytime soon.

buck bradley, you rule! :) (signed, an ol' ottawan that knows your family etc)

nope never had a seat belt, speeding, etc fine; although i likely should have! :)

No, my parents used to tell me that the starter in the car didn't work until all seat belts on the car were on. It just became a habit.

d

"No. They turn on the lights, and I put it on real quick." - Jennifer Beach, school bus driver

Jennifer, How often do they pull over your bus?

Never. I can honestly say that I can not drive or ride in a car unless my seat belt is on.

Not sure why. It's not as though my parents were over-bearing about it growing up either. It's just automatic for me I suppose.