smoker:
Spardo:
Yes, sorry about that, a little misunderstanding. I read your post twice and came to the conclusion that you were including me in the partial wearers. Now I know you are not and also do agree that there is no logic to wearing them some of the time. If it wasn’t for the law, and I have paid 2 fines in 2 countries though neither when driving a wagon, I wouldn’t wear it at all - tight or slack.I can’t agree with the logic statement there.
You have a hard hat. You have to wear it on a site, but you don’t have to wear it in your house. Logically, that makes sense because of the risk assessment. Things can still fall and injure your head in your house, but the risk is smaller than on a site. So how is it different with seat belts ?
If you are ok with not wearing a belt at all, why do you have a problem with wearing a belt when the situation looks like it may be useful ? If it’s personal choice, then the partial use makes more sense than never ever at all. You wouldn’t go on a roller coaster unless you were secured in the car, but on the boating lake there is no need for a belt.
True, however I don’t think there is much difference in the frequency of road accidents in good weather or bad, they happen all the time regardless of the conditions. When the weather is bad traffic does tend to slow down, hence congestion when it rains or snows as people over compensate for example. In clear dry weather people tend to rush about more, are less cautious and take more risks. I don’t think I see more accidents in bad weather, just different types of accident. For example, where someone has misjudged the stopping distance on the wet road and slid into the vehicle in front causing very little damage and no injuries, or a car has aquaplaned from travelling too fast. During the last few days there have been quite a lot of vehicles going over, due no doubt to the high winds, but on any given day you can listen to the traffic news on the radio and hear a report of vehicle on its side, even on clear, dry days you can here two or three such reports.
Even at relatively low speed in an urban environment, if a car was to pull out of a side road in front of a truck, resulting in the truck hitting the car, the unbelted truck driver is going to be thrown forward, with a good chance of their head hitting the screen, A pillar or even over head storage lockers. There is also the chance of rib damage from coming into contact with the steering wheel.
As far as risk assessment goes I would say there is a relatively high risk of being involved in an accident every time you set wheels in motion, regardless of any other conditions. So on those grounds I can only see the argument for wearing the belt - reduce the risk of personal injury, which is my choice, or not wearing it at all - aware of the risk but choose freedom of choice and fully aware that the risk of personal injury/death is greater, which is Spardo’s choice.