Ever been harrassed for not having a seat belt??

I saw an unbuckled driver ejected out of the passenger window when a car barrel rolled in front of me, comming from the opposite direction on the interstate. Looked like he got thrown out the way they do dwarf tossing.

His car stopped in the passing lane, and he stopped in the right hand lane. Fortunately his car didn't roll one more half revolution, or it would have landed on him. I was able to stop before I hit him, and left my truck there until he was loaded into the meat wagon.

He was only in the hospital a couple of days, but it could have been so much worse.

 

You're right, it should be a personal choice.

Without personal choice, natural selection has no chance of ever working.

My personal choice is to think anyone living in 2007, and capable of understanding the most basic of physics, is kind of an idiot for not wearing a seatbelt.

 

Indian Larry doesn't get harrassed anymore...

 

Well I guess I can only put lap belts in. I have a 53 Plymouth 2 door hardtop. Where the hellwould i mount a shoulder belt??

 

Years ago when I lived in the great (sic) State of NJ I used to take my handicapped son to ride horses on Saturday's . I had to go thru Allentown NJ in my well worn 71 Olds conv. they has a speed trap and I always slowed way down when I got near it. They stopped me every Saturday without fail and gave me crap. One time they stopped me and accused me of speeding , I told the cop that I knew of his trap and was not speeding. He then told me that if I admitted to not wearing a seat belt he would write me up for that and I would not get any points. CLICK I took off the belt and told him " I do not have a seat belt on" it cost me $38.00. The next week i put Antique plates on the car and they never stopped me again.
If they think you are poor you make an easy target.

 

I won't argue the safety factor of seat belts. I sold the factory belts from my '64 Ford. Legally, they're not required.But I'm installing twin outdated racing lap belts that I have lying around in front. Due to arthritis, a factory shoulder harness makes my shoulder hurt badly and I loop them under my arm in newer cars. They do no good safety-wise that way, so why have them? BTW, I've never been hassled about the lack of belts in pre-'65 cars.

Jan

 

The Bel Air doesn't have belts. I never thought twice til some girl wouldn't ride with me because of it. Got rid of girl, kept car.

 

To keep it "traditional" I use cotton rope.

 

He would tell you that the 49 has a lot of windshield and it's gonna hurt real bad when you hit it. Glass is unforgiving, I know . Do yourself a favor and put one in

 

I will be putting good belts in my falcon, I have driven race cars (road course and oval track stock cars) for years. Belts have saved me alot. I went over the wall at senoia raceway in a sportsman car one night, knocked down a light pole cute pinetrees in two and landed on the roof down an embankment, the car was trashed, nothing left but the engine, steering wheel and some guages. I walked away without a scratch. To many idiots on the roads not to have them.

 

In 1969, a Volkswagen windshield harrassed my face for not wearing a seat belt.

 

Yea, but your nose looks better now, and women want you.

 

Interesting topic that I would have had to bring up if I couldn't have found an old link. I'm picking up a 54 Chevy and I thought here might be the place to ask what you had to do to install belts.

I always wear a belt and I imagine it would now feel strange to not at least have a lap belt but I really care less what others (that I don't know) do.

 

Yep...got the nose , the moustache has a little trouble growing on the scar, and half of one front tooth was made in a lab.

Yes, women want me..............to leave them alone.

 

Step back and look at your post. Your obviously quite young. One of the best things you'll ever do is listen to the older folks about everything. How to build this. How to do that. etc. There's a lot of knowledge out there and most of if came the school of hard knocks. They are the lucky ones because they survived without serious injuries.
Now, to die is easy. Hard on the friends and familly you leave behind if your that darned selfish. But ever seen a person with a closed head injury. They'll be loved by someone the rest of their life. Some get will be fed. Some will have their diapers changed, long after their mind was changed about how stupid they were about not wearing a seat belt because is was "my right?" $25.00 per set securely fastened to something other than sheet metal.
Ever hear of public assistance?
Just a rant.

 

Wah wah wah.. what a bunch of fascists.. it's a persons choice let them make it... same with helmet laws... bunch of Nancies...

Belts in a roadster can kill you if it flips... there are arguements for and against...

 

I don't know if you younger rodders know this, but us older rodders do. Seat belts were put into hot rods at auto shows long before Detroit thought of it. Back then seat belts were criss-crossed aircraft style. Now you understand why we rolled our smokes in our sleeve, the belt would crush them. Some of us went so far as to have our Mom's sew pockets on the arm of our club jackets. Don't go flicking snot at Detroit for something we have been trying to teach you younger guys for years. Do the math...A free and unattached body inside of a 4,000 LB object X 65 MPH / by a collision with a stationary immoveable object = a stick and a sponge.

'Scuse me while I buckle up!

 

I'll pm you tonight... or send me a pm if I forget. cheers!

 

I don't believe that someone should have to tell me to wear a helmet or seat belt, but I'm smart enough to know that I should!

 

C'mon zman if your roadster flips at speed their pretty much gonna need a shovel not an ambulance.

 

So what is the general consensus on what is recommended for a roadster? I know someone on here wrecked a roadster with no seatbelts, and thrown fromt he car. They said NOT having seatbelts saved them or they'd have been crushed. Anyone else with accident experience in a roadster WITH seatbelts?!

 

There are an awful lot of dead ones who, unfortunately aren't available to argue the other side of it. A couple of 'em were friends of mine...but they were still stupid. It only takes a very minor accident to f**K up your bare head.

 

That's a FACT. Just ask ChevyGirlRox.....

 

In 1995 I was in a bad accident in my first car - a 1958 Ford Custom 300 2dr. An uninsured guy came around a blind corner on the wrong side of the road and we hit head-on. We were each going 35-40 mph. I had installed lap belts (my Dad made me do it before I could drive the car) out of my mom's first car, a '66 Fairlane. They still had that vintage, cool look.... Anyways, that seatbelt undoubtedly saved me. I did crush my nose into the steering wheel and had reconstructive surgery and many stitches. It could have been MUCH much worse. The guy in the other car didn't have a seatbelt on and put his head through the windshield.

Lap belts = GOOD
Shoulder belts = BETTER

My $.02

Malcolm

 

Photo of the '58 Ford wheel:
Ouch!

 

I saw the much worse version!!

A woman was on her way home (1/2 mile), after going out to pick up a loaf of bread. 2 homies stabbed a guy with a screw driver and stole his impala. They passed me doing 80+ on Telegraph Rd and ran a red light. She was crossing through the yellow in her mini van when SHE HIT THEM. Both cars rolled a couple of times and she was pitched out the passenger side window and was TORN APART betweeen them. I ALWAYS WEAR MY BELT NOW.

Any cops wanna weigh in on how many stiffs they've cut out of seat belts?

 

Sorry - I'm with the Pro-Choice movement here. There is no doubt that seatbelts (and helmets) protect people in most situations. There are, however, a minority of situations where they hinder/hurt/or worsen the injury.

The government is NOT interested in your safety. Seatbelt laws were passed at the insistence of the insurance lobby - one of the largest lobbies in gov't. - to protect their bottom line. Same with the 55 mph laws (and you thought it was about the early '70s fuel crisis - not quite) & "Speed Kills" campaign. Let those who ride decide.

There is much more of a political aspect to all of this, which I will refrain from here, but it has to do with the gross warping of individual rights over the collective. To keep this short, Spock said it best, "The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few, or the one." The "If it saves just one life it's worth it" mentality is absolutely fucking this country's concept of value up.

It's about freedom of choice and precedent.

Yes, even safety succumbs to the almighty dollar.

In a closed car, a properly fitted 3-point shoulder harness drastically increases your odds of survival in the majority of crashes. Driving in an open car is inherently more dangerous - rollovers, flying debris, the other vehicle or object, etc. are all exposing your pink ass to major trauma.

Let's be really safe - make roadster & convertible drivers wear a helmet! Don't laugh, it's been proposed in at least one state a few years ago...

As for motorcycle helmets - if you ride without a helmet, your risk of death from head trauma goes up. If you ride with a helmet, your risk of death from neck trauma goes up. However, without a helmet, you're less likely to be involved in an accident due to increased vision, hearing, and less distraction due to weight, heat, etc. CA was an awesome proving ground for this when they implemented their helmet law several years ago - before then, CA was a no-helmet law. In the 5 years following the implementation of the helmet law, motorcycle registrations actually went down (per capita), but accidents (per capita) went up & deaths increased (per capita) - principle cause of death: neck injury.

 

I think this was answered, thrown free comes to mind

Helmet design right now also promotes neck injuries, and don't even tell me the wanna be helmets the Harley crowd wears do anything. The statistics are there. Neck injuries, head inside a helmet, and on and on. I wear mine but it should be my decision.

 

You can break the law of man,

But as Scotty says:

"Ya canna break the law of physics"

Stu

 

Seat belts saved me and my wife. Head on drunk driver in a curve. I had about a tenth of a second to react. Its not your so good a driver you dont need them its the drunk dumbasses and fuckheads who think they are evel knievil.
The one argument of choice is your risking emergency workers lifes while there under a semi trailer pumped up with airbags trying to save you because you were thrown from a car.
We have had a few accidents here in this last week where people were thrown from there cars with no seatbelts on. forgot to add there all dead.