Exactly. A guy told me there were statistics on the continent saying it made no difference to accident numbers.
(, Sat 3 Dec 2022, 12:16, Reply)
I met an American father and son in a hostel in Japan in 2010.
Son told me about how 9/11 was an inside job, and father told me that 'they' were going to force people to wear seatbelts on motorbikes soon, and also that he'd been in six car accidents and if he'd have been killed in all of them if he'd been wearing a seatbelt at the time.
(, Sat 3 Dec 2022, 12:23, Reply)
thank god he didn't
dying 6 times would have been too much for anyone to bear
(, Sat 3 Dec 2022, 18:42, Reply)
This did occur to me at the time.
He was so enraged by that point, though, that I felt it would have been unwise to point it out.
(, Sat 3 Dec 2022, 20:05, Reply)
What difference exactly would it make to the number of accidents?
Do you really think people have more accidents because they’re not wearing a belt? Or is it that those that do have accidents have worse outcomes if they’re not wearing a belt? It’s not the same thing. Your interlocutor’s statement isn’t as stupid as you think.
(
Prufrock Lucifer, son of the morning!, Sat 3 Dec 2022, 17:23,
Reply)
There might be some correlation.
I'd expect people who refuse to wear seatbelts on principle to drive like fucking nutters. Maybe that's just my prejudice, though.
(, Sat 3 Dec 2022, 20:00, Reply)
I know what you're saying about number of accidents vs severity of injury from those accidents
But I'm not sure he's aware of that nuance. And it'll do him no good intertwined in his steering wheel.
(, Sat 3 Dec 2022, 20:21, Reply)
I would never not wear a seatbelt, nor is anybody who sits behind me allowed not to.
But something about the legislative system that won’t outlaw people’s stupidity and blatant disregard for their own self preservation appeals to me. We are fine with all kinds of idiots believing all kind of bullshit like religion, so, if someone believes it’s a good idea not to wear one, leave them to it. Compared to what billions of religious people think, it really isn’t so nuts.
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Prufrock Lucifer, son of the morning!, Sat 3 Dec 2022, 21:45,
Reply)
Totally with you.
However, I suspect that one of the reasons that they're mandatory is due to the risk posed to third parties by unbelted passengers/drivers during collisions.
'Victim ejected from vehicle' is a very real thing, and when your car decelerates from 40mph to 0mph in the blink of an eye, the fleshy sacks of blood and bone don't - and won't until something impedes their trajectory.
The chances of actually going through the windscreen of a car made after 1990 are pretty slim, but you're a lot more likely to inflict serious injuries on whoever is in the car with you should you choose to travel unrestrained.
I won't link it here, but there's a video showing a car rolling after a colission and literally flinging an occupant out of a side window a good 15-20 feet in the air. They should probably show that to the anti-belt fuckwits.
(, Sun 4 Dec 2022, 20:40, Reply)
An adult didn’t have to wear a seatbelt in the back till 1991. Kids aged 14 and under since 1989.
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Prufrock Lucifer, son of the morning!, Sun 4 Dec 2022, 20:46,
Reply)
I remember.
I also remember how put out my uncle was by the whole thing. I was in single figures at the time, but even then I remember thinking it was perfectly reasonable.
(, Sun 4 Dec 2022, 20:52, Reply)
I heard something similar
Basically if you wear a seat belt you’re more inclined to drive a little more recklessly, I.e. you feel as though the seat belt gives you more chance of surviving a crash.
(
Fray Brentos *mega-belms*, Sun 4 Dec 2022, 0:30,
Reply)