I’ve often talked to van drivers about this and there seems to be an idea that the bigger the vehicle, the less the laws of physics apply, so maybe that’s part of the reasoning. Unfortunately a long time before seatbelts were invented, Newton messed everything up and invented his First Law of Motion which in the case of a car, van, truck etc translates as you’ll keep going at say 40mph until your head hits the windscreen…ouch.
Every object in a state of uniform motion tends to remain in that state of motion unless an external force is applied to it
Possibly the best way to convince someone to wear one is to meet someone who wasn’t and discovered the above by themselves. For example, one of my cousins has a friend who crashed into a bus at 30mph and thus the windscreen at 30mph. She was in a coma for 3 months and when she woke, she thought she was 9 years old. 2 years later, she finally got her memories back to age 18. In reality she was 21 when the accident happened, had just gone into her final part of being a solicitor and was being tipped to be a barrister - now she’ll probably never even hold down a job at Poundland due to the injuries.
Of course it’s everyones choice, but I do wonder, why should the NHS pay for all the extra treatment when the major injury was clearly avoidable?
axletramp:
The Bradford plod are having a bit of a purge on “bad drivers”, concentrating on four points which cause accidents.
These are - speeding, mobile phone use, drink / drugs, and not wearing seat belts. But how does not wearing a seat belt “cause an accident”?
Before i started driving rigids i did a year doing van multidrop.As some of my drops were only metres apart i kind of got in the habit of not wearing my seat belt.
Not long after passing my Class 2 i past an accident on the motorway involving two trucks.It appeared that one had run into the back of the other and the truck at the fronts cab was windscreen down facing the floor and had been pushed some distance up the road.
Needless to say my bad habit was reversed instantly that day.
I’ve devised a handy little experiment for those that think they don’t need to wear a seatbelt,it’s very easy to conduct so give it a try.
First you’ll need a brick wall that’s built higher than yourself,second you’ll need a stretch of land in front of it say 100 yards,if you have both of these your good to go!
All you need to do to conduct my fantastic experiment is stand 100 yards away from said brick wall facing it,then run run run as fast as you can straight into the brick wall without stopping,and remember guys no putting your hands out at the last minute you want you face taking full impact to maximise the experience for you…
Once you have don’t this and picked yourself up,or regained consciousness you have successfully completed the experiment and you can look at how much damage you caused to yourself hitting a stationary object at your own running pace which will be 10-15mph Max,this will give you some idea of what will happen when you don’t wear a seatbelt but remember it will hit twice as hard if your travelling at 30mph in a vehicle.
Give it a try guys,knock yourself out…possibly literally.
Always buckled them up, always will, regardless of the vehicle. 99% of the time I don’t care what other people do, as long as they are not getting in my way.
It ■■■■■■ me of to see unrestrained children or adult holding a child while riding a car.
Last year I saw a small child standing in front of the front seat and playing with toys on the passenger side dashboard while the father I guess was driving. He made illegal U turn in front of me on a 3 lane boulevard, to which I blew my horn and made a remark - “are you crazy, it’s illegal to make U turn here and you kid is in danger”. He pulled over and wanted physical contact, making fistfight gestures
Stupid people…
People can’t be told. They know they are 100% in the wrong when it’s “Wanna fight?” attitude when you challenge them.
The nearest school to my house is one full of ignorant “can’t be arsed to know or find out” types. Future Housing benefit fodder (just get diagnosed as ADHD) or Supermarket checkout girls (those too ugly to get knocked up by the time they are 15)
Breaking off wing mirrors on the parked cars up this street, shouting and swearing at the tops of their voices, openly smoking tobacco and upwards, walking in the middle of the road when a vehicle is approaching (makes me laugh when it’s a dustcart!) - and of course kicking a football about (boys) or diddling the mobile to update status (girls).
You occasionally get to see their parents… Dad is either driving a battered merc/BMW or not there at all (benefit scam) whilst Mum is wearing some kind of leopard print outfit whilst diddling an even bigger mobile than their kids with some psychodelic plastic cover on it, wandering out between parked cars, and teaching the kids the “Red Cross Code”. They even have a face that would come second to Dave Prowse’s arse in a beauty contest.
Having checked out some of the vids in a previous posting I can only surmise that US seatbelt manufacturers are able to supply
“industrial quality” belting of a strength and length to fit the larger people.
You wouldn’t want any of them sat on your face unless you could breathe through your ears.
I always wear a seat belt, while I believe in freedom of choice to a certain extent, I think before you exercise your freedom of choice you need all the information to make that decision.
And all the evidence I’ve ever seen makes me think that in the majority of collisions I’d be safer wearing a seat belt.
Modern safety features in vehicles are designed to protect people wearing seat belts, airbags are designed to protect a restrained occupant, an unrestrained occupant is likely to meet an airbag while it still inflating at high speed and probably suffer more injury, same reason as you have to turn off passenger airbags if you put a rear facing baby seat in the front.
As for being thrown clear, with safety cell designs in vehicles I think you’re are better inside than thrown clear to either end up being crushed by your own vehicle or hit by another vehicle.
Front impacts with trucks and lack of crumple zone is a problem, but without a seat belt instead of losing your legs you more likely to headbutt the object you’ve just ploughed into causing major brain damage or death.
I know some driver believe they can get themselves out of the drivers seat before impact, but really if you have that much time then you’ve probably got time to avoid the impact.
The only time I really get annoyed is when I’m in a vehicle with others who won’t wear a seat belt, because then they put my life at risk as well.
im old enough to never hve been made to wear one before the doogooders made it law,so i dont bother.it never killed me before and i dont care either way now…i rolled a transit into a field and ended up in the back just before a fencepost came through the window and through the back of the seat.if i was still in it it would have went through me also,so swings and roundabouts.ive never been fined for not doing so,il never wear one in a truck,though sometimes abroad il wear one if i think i m likely to be under scrutiny.personal choice at the end of the day though it definately annoys when you see some gormless wifey with a tribe of scrabbling kids bouncing around in the back…my main issue with this post is…1,what kind of drugs and medication does toby123 take ,2,and how can i get some■■?
With cabs increasingly designed to pop off in the event of a bad smash I’d say wearing a belt has only got more important. I used to be one of those that never wore them, but then I grew up and realised I didn’t have a sensible answer as to why I didn’t.
eagerbeaver:
It looked to me that the bus driver had already lost control at the point where I assume he hit the kerb, which propelled him out of his seat.
He was lucky that the lard ■■■ didn’t land on top of him,
I was in a pile up in 1999 on the M1 at junction 10 luton ,another hgv piled into the back of me and pushed me into a flatbed in front result was my wagon being written off,i suffered cuts and scrapes and loss of blood from my nose[fortunately not broken]I jumped out 5 min later and stood at the side of my wagon as the paramedics arrived ,one of them asked where I was,when I replied I am the driver the paramedic replied that they thought I would have to be cut out of my vehicle,thats when she then said,GOOD JOB YOU WERE NOT WEARING YOUR SEATBELT,as the law was not enforced then on belts,work that one out,
Have worn mine since having a go on the Volvo cab roll over demo at the RAI show in 2002, really made me appreciate the value of the belt, some good accompanying film footage showing Volvo dummy’s being thrown about and out the windscreen. Since then always on except shunting in yard or something similar. However don’t get hung up about those that choose not to, c’est la vie!
Two occasions I’ve been to jobs where seat belts could have mattered. Both were fatalities that needn’t have been.
One, a middle aged lass was hit head on, on a rural road, by another driver who was speeding and had crossed over. I sat with her, alone, trying to save her life for 20 minutes as she went from being conscious breathing, to unconscious, then fitting. After 20 minutes, the next support to arrive was a retained trumpton with off duty paramedic. Ten minutes after, the first meat wagon arrived by which time the 42 year old married mother of three had bled to death internally, 2 weeks before Christmas. I met her husband about a mile from the accident, two years later, completely by chance whilst helping a drunk out of the road. His life had been shattered. He was the drunk. She was not wearing her seat belt, and would probably otherwise have survived. The chap who caused the accident survived with life changing injuries, but was at least wearing his seatbelt. Despite knowing that even had I had a trauma team on scene immediately following the accident, she still would have died, I still suffer from PTSD issues with not being able to save her.
The other one, a C+E driver for large haulier fell asleep on a hot summers night, whilst S ‘bound on the M40; passenger window and drivers’ windows wound down. No seat belt on. The unit was travelling no more than 20 mph when it left the carriageway, travelled down the embankment, fell on its side and stopped. We couldn’t find him until a recovery unit lifted the trailer and tractor unit. The 15’ red smear along the side of the trailer was the give away. He’d been ejected through the passenger window, the unit then tipping onto him, and sliding forwards. His body was de-gloved and he was identified by the serial number on his hip replacement.
Clunk click. If only to save others from dealing with the after effects of your selfishness.
axletramp:
The Bradford plod are having a bit of a purge on “bad drivers”, concentrating on four points which cause accidents.
These are - speeding, mobile phone use, drink / drugs, and not wearing seat belts.
But how does not wearing a seat belt “cause an accident”?
Bradford would do better to target the ■■■■■ taxi drivers and check it’s a licensed driver in them! They’ll also have a field day with mobile phones in use whilst driving if they care to sit and watch out of my apartment window which overlooks busy main road. I see plenty of phones stuck to ears!
As for drink/drugs - never happen, top of Bradford full of drunk/high groups yet police just walk past them citing they’re watching them, well look at signs saying no public drinking then and stop them mobbing people asking for money. It’s like a mini gauntlet of beggars !
As usual it’ll be a targeted effort at the wrong places and do squiddle squat overall except gets some crap in papers saying they’re doing great!
I only started wearing mine about 8 years ago, as I had got so used to not having to wear them for so long previously, in fact I have driven many trucks in the past where they were not even fitted.
However I always wear one today, and would feel unsafe without one nowadays.
if you have that much time then you’ve probably got time to avoid the impact.