I’m very sorry…but if someone won’t fasten a seatbelt in my car, I won’t drive them anywhere. They can call an Uber or Lyft, or try to find someone else who will drive them sans seatbelt. It won’t be me.
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Yes, nowadays with Uber & Lyft & of course taxis & buses, people are free to get their own means of transit. I simply won’t operate a vehicle if people don’t cooperate, or invite them to exit. I’ve not had issues.
HI has a very high rate of seat belt compliance anyway. Even some loved ones who aren’t always too adherent to rules buckle up.
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I worked in Brain injury. Everyone wears a helmet and a seat belt. End of story. We were at Vail when the stories About Sonny Bono and the Kennedy cousin died in ski accidents. I also wish everyone wearing a bike helmet would wear it correctly and protect their frontal lobes.
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The vehicles I’ve purchased in past 10 years all have made it extremely annoying to not wear seatbelts, to the point where it nearly forces driver and passenger to use them. For example, if I put a package in passenger seat or my dog sits in the front seat, there will be a constant loud chiming with warnings about the package/dog not wearing seatbelts. It became so annoying that I bought a Carsita OBD to reconfigure the setting and turn off the chime.
Regarding the original question, I put on seatbelts when I get in the car, without thought. Other people I’ve driven with also wear seatbelt, so it’s never been an issue. I don’t have personal experience with people not wearing seatbelts, but I’d imagine that if someone didn’t wear them, I wouldn’t force them to do so.
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Are you saying they don’t like government regulations?
I hear this about motorcycle helmet laws too. As if the laws of physics can somehow be suspended because you don’t want to be told what to do
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We lived in a house with a very long driveway. The kid a house or 2 away would ride up and down our driveway on his bike. I told his mom I was fine with that, as long as he wore his helmet. She said she made him wear his helmet when he was outside of our neighborhood. I believe i said something to her like “You think the concrete is harder outside our neighborhood???” Made NO sense to me.
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The % of children like 12 and under who wear bike helmets is shockingly low - well under 50%. To be honest, I see more adults riding bike casually on our local trail without a helmet than with one.
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Nils Bohlin was an engineer at Volvo car company and invented the three point safety belt in the 1950’s. Volvo opened up the patent for free to other companies and is credited with saving millions in the process. I always thought that was such a statement of good corporate will and culture. Love my Volvo suv and always use the seatbelt and insist passengers do as well. Not even up for negotiation.
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I worked for a personal injury law firm and we met families whose lives were upended by tragedy. I try to be as careful as I can, and my immediate family members are as well.
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My FIL doesn’t like seatbelts. He always has to be told to buckle up, always starts with some excuse, DH always says the same thing
“Dad, I do not care. Seat belt or get out”
Our kids were genuinely shocked to find out the car would in fact start if seatbelts weren’t fastened, (we told them otherwise as small people) but also would never not wear them.
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I grew up never wearing seatbelts. In 1997, the year before our son was born, my husband and I made a deal…he quit smoking and I started wearing my seatbelt. Been wearing it ever since.
I have never had an issue with someone not buckling up. Even driving a minivan full of high schoolers for carpool, everyone automatically buckled up.
OP, I’m sorry you were treated that way!
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Gerald Paddio died today - a great UNLV hoops player in the late 80s before the team of legends a few years later. Played in the Final Four my freshman year (Syracuse / Indiana was the final game).
One car accident. Ejected from the car. No word on a seat belt but given the subject, it made me think of this thread.
Sad story - especially if we find out he could have survived.
https://thespun.com/college-basketball/ncaa-tournament-hero-found-dead-in-car-accident-at-60
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I even make my dog buckle up every time she’s in the car!
And don’t even get me started on bike helmets! Why as a parent would you not enforce your own child wearing a helmet? It’s madness.
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If someone didn’t buckle up in my car I’d tell them I had a friend who died when he wasn’t wearing a seatbelt and was in an accident and crashed through the windshield.
This is true. It was thirty years ago and he wasn’t a close friend but it has stuck with me. It was shocking. We went to his funeral. He was a fun and funny guy and on his way to work when it happened. His name was Eddie.
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I also had a friend die in a car accident who wasn’t wearing a seatbelt- 1992. She was driving cross country from Philadelphia to San Diego to visit a friend of ours. She was awesome - quiet, yet super funny and sweet. Her name was Jennifer.
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We always wore bike helmets and had our kids wear them. I drives me crazy that they DON’T issue bike helmets or other head protective gear when they rent out electric scooters and electric bikes and electric motorized scooters that are being operated on busy highways. It’s just so dangerous!
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The Scout who was scheduled to share his Eagle Court of Honor with our son was killed in a Jeep rollover accident a couple of months before the ceremony. He was the only one not wearing a seatbelt. The others walked away. He was 17. His name was Austin. Our son was devastated.
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My niece lost her HS boyfriend to a car accident where he wasn’t wearing a seatbelt. She was both heartbroken and mad at him at the same time.
A friend of mine was dating a man who needed a multi organ transplant. She researched and they needed up moving to Louisiana for a few years. With no motorcycle helmet laws it was likely he would get a transplant faster than Ca.
I’m happy that my 4 and 2 year old grandchildren won’t even ride the scooter in my driveway without putting on the helmet. The kids at their preschool put helmets on to ride the scooters and little bikes.
My son is finally wearing a bike helmet now that he’s a dad. He has had multiple bike accidents and still didn’t learn. He’s been lucky. It took me many years of nagging but now my whole family wears helmets skiing and snowboarding.
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I knew two people - one in HS, one in college killed not wearing seatbelts. In both cases the driver - wearing a seatbelt - walked away with minor injuries. I started wearing a seatbelt at all times after the second one (slow learner). I will not drive if everyone isn’t wearing a seatbelt. I don’t remember the name of the kid in college, the one in HS was named Bill.
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