We're being sued, yay

[Cia]

I rode in a pre-seatbelt car once, it'd been grandfathered in so the owners weren't forced to retrofit them in. It was way to creepy riding w/o seatbelts, the driver almost hit a car because she wasn't paying attention. Never doing that again.

As kids we fought my parents about seatbelts, we wore them but always made a fuss. It's a non-issue now, we all wear them.

[WishfulSpirit]

There's only one person I know that gets a no-seatbelt pass from me. The guy got T-boned in his truck, with the driver door mashed all the way to the gearshift in the center. Had he been wearing a belt, he'd have been cut in half instead of mangled.
Since then, no belt for him, and for him alone... okay dude.

If he isn't belted in he can go flying and hurt or kill you in the event of a crash. Just something to consider.

[XCashier]

"Well, ... it's a very old car, and the shoulder belt is separate from the lap belt. I was only wearing my lap belt."
He gave me a look that said "You know better than to do that" and he was right, I did.

1972 Dodge Dart, accident was in ... 1989?

My first car was a 1962 Dodge Dart, and it only had lap belts. Did yours come with the shoulder belts, or did you have to install them later?

Everybody buckles up in my car, no exceptions. "But seat belts are uncomfortable!" No, body casts are uncomfortable. Buckle up or we go nowhere!

[dalesys]

My first car was a 1962 Dodge Dart...

Patty Larkin has your song! Dodge Dart and the YT url de-leet-ified is a hoot too!

[AdamAnt316]

I recently had to drive my boss somewhere in my own car. I made damn sure that he buckled his seatbelt, even though I'm pretty sure he doesn't do so in his own car. On the way there, while driving down a main road, a car ahead of us on a side road blasted his way across without stopping at all! I shudder to think what would've happened if the car had hit us, especially since my boss probably would've gotten the brunt of it since the idiot ahead of us was crossing right-to-left.

On the subject of older vehicles, I once got to drive a very nice 1965 Ford Mustang convertible owned by a friend. When it was made, shoulder belts weren't yet mandated for the front seats, so all there was were lap belts for each seat. Felt very odd, given that many modern cars have lap/shoulder belts even in the back seats, but I buckled up all the same (even though I was in NH, the last state where adult seatbelt wear is entirely optional). While driving towards a highway on-ramp, I took the turn a bit harder than I should've (didn't account for the lack of power steering), and probably came close to flipping it or somesuch. No idea whether or not the lap belt would've been enough protection, especially since I had the convertible top down, but I was glad to be wearing it all the same.....
-Adam

[katzklaw]

when my dad was a young and indestructible/impetuous young 20something (i'm in my 40s now, so this was a while ago.. lol) he had a '55 Mercury (i think that's what he said it was at least). said it looked like the batmobile. and he never buckled up... because he was young and impetuous and indestructible, like all young men think themselves to be. he had a drunk woman slam into him so hard it totaled that old steel.. (he's STILL sad about losing that car), but fortunately for him, the force was sideways (i think she Tboned him?) and all he did was get thrown sideways inside the car and shook up really bad. he wore his seatbelt from then on...every trip... no matter what.

i've been in a few accidents, including one really serious one, but nothing that would really make me say "OMG THAT SEAT BELT SAVED MY LIFE!!!" but still... unless i am literally just moving from one end of my own yard to the other, i buckle up.

[Chanlin]

@katzklaw that story reminds me of a time my dad plowed into the side of a car that ran a stop sign. It was back in the mid-late 90s. The paramedics said the driver of the other car would likely have been killed had he been wearing his belt. As it was, the passenger in that same vehicle was thrown against the door so hard the lock stem on the door punched a hole into her skull. She was lucky that the stem wasn't long enough to reach brain matter.

[Deserted]

The paramedics said the driver of the other car would likely have been killed had he been wearing his belt.

The odds of getting saved by not wearing a seatbelt are much lower than the odds of getting seriously injured or killed from being thrown around the car. (See also: the original point of this thread.) Yes, there are times where not wearing the seatbelt saves a life... but there are many more times when the seatbelt does its job. I certainly always buckle up.

I absolutely love it when passengers tell me they'd rather get thrown free. "Really? You do realize you're in a big metal box with shatter-resistant windows, right? This isn't a convertible."

There's an old quote from both Dear Abby and Ann Landers, attributed to a police officer: "I've never unbuckled a dead man." (Of course not, that's someone else's job. ) Snopes mentions it in the article Risk-O Inferno: Do seatbelts cause more deaths than they save lives? Big Green Cab Co actually issues its wheelchair van drivers seatbelt cutters for this kind of situation. (For the driver; the wheelchair seatbelts can be easily disassembled.)

[nutraxfornerves]

I got clobbered by a lady who ran a red light. (Two witnesses actually stopped and gave me their contact info, because they wanted to be sure the blame was on the right person.) No major injuries, but I was badly shaken.

The nice cop who showed up called AAA for me and stuck around until the tow truck arrived. He chatted with me to help me calm down. As I relaxed, I realized that my shoulder was a bit bunged up from being jerked by the seat belt. “But,” I said to the cop, “if it weren’t for the seatbelt, there's a good chance I’d have gone through the windshield.” “You’re right,” he said. “And people yell at me when I give them tickets for not wearing seatbelts.”

[Racket_Man]

My first car was a 1962 Dodge Dart, and it only had lap belts. Did yours come with the shoulder belts, or did you have to install them later?

I remember in the 1960's cars that had NO seatbelts or just a lap belt. I remember when integrated lap/shoulder belts came in late 60's early 70's

Everybody buckles up in my car, no exceptions. "But seat belts are uncomfortable!" No, body casts are uncomfortable. Buckle up or we go nowhere!

That very scene was the subject of a VERY heavily played on TV PSA for seatbelt use

Seat Belt PSA from the 1970's

[Ghel]

I was in a bad car accident about 10 15 years ago (omg, has it really been that long). About this time of year, too. My Jeep Wrangler slipped on the snow as I slowed down around a curve. I was stupid enough not to be wearing a seatbelt nor have it in 4WD. But once you start sliding on snow, chances are your 4WD won't help much anyway. I don't remember the actual accident, but pieced it together afterwards. The Jeep hit the edge of the road, spun around, rolled either 1-1/2 or 2-1/2 times, ending up down the embankment on its roof facing the direction I was coming from. I got tossed around, but stayed inside the vehicle. Ended up with 4 cracked vertebrae and a couple cracked ribs.

The Jeep was about 4" shorter from having its roof caved in, so my ex suspected if I'd been wearing my seatbelt, my injuries would have been more in the neck and head area than the middle of my back. But there's no way to really know. Now I drive an AWD car and always wear my seatbelt.

[Chanlin]

The odds of getting saved by not wearing a seatbelt...

I was just stating the facts of this one particular case. To my knowledge the driver was severely injured, but I never heard or found out to what extent so I did not include it in the details.

[Naaman]

I got clobbered by a lady who ran a red light. (Two witnesses actually stopped and gave me their contact info, because they wanted to be sure the blame was on the right person.) No major injuries, but I was badly shaken.

The nice cop who showed up called AAA for me and stuck around until the tow truck arrived. He chatted with me to help me calm down. As I relaxed, I realized that my shoulder was a bit bunged up from being jerked by the seat belt. “But,” I said to the cop, “if it weren’t for the seatbelt, there's a good chance I’d have gone through the windshield.” “You’re right,” he said. “And people yell at me when I give them tickets for not wearing seatbelts.”

Another good example here, look closely at the passenger side (left) on the white van in the third incident

[evilhomer]

I had an accident 8 years ago. It was the classic slam on the brakes, get rear ended and claim injuries. This guy was a professional, it was his third (documented) incident, he knew exactly how to act and so on. He was claiming every non-provable injury possible, along with every kind of negligence possible on my part. (Of note was on day 2, he was ordered to leave the hospital because they could find nothing wrong with him).

Anyways, he was suing for $1.5 million, my insurance only covered $1 million. I was a nervous wreck for the 4 years that the case was open. But eventually, things got settled without even going to trial. I'm not an expert, but from what I was told, as long as there is no visible sign of disability (ie: loss of limbs, paralysis, etc), they do not get the huge settlements. I know it's hard to do, but try not to worry about it, insurance will take care of it.

[Tanasi]

Deserted, I'm curious say you get an obese passenger that the seat belt won't fit around. Is it still no seat belt no ride in effect?