The wearing of seat belts in vehicles.

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Since taking retirement some years ago I found myself in need of some extra cash to boost my pension, so I took a job as a petrol sales attendant.

Everyone who has bought petrol will know that we sit behind a window watching vehicles fill up and their occupants coming to pay, (well most of the time............there are a very few that don't).

I have noticed though that there a an increasing number of drivers, and passengers who are not wearing seat belts. In the vast majority of cases they seem to be the under 25's. I am not saying all of them, not by any means, but it must be at least 40% of them.(The under 25's that is)

Why?.......Is it some kind of macho madness, or just forgetfullness. It is certainly not just males who are guilty, there are an equal number of females.
To the few whom I have been brave enough to ask why they don't, most say something like, "Can't be bothered". Or some equally inane reply.

I wondered if any of the younger drivers on here are prepared to admit that they are doing this, and if they are, to explain why this is happening.:lease:
 
I'm 21, no idea why anyone wouldn't wear a seatbelt, something is clearly wrong with their head.

For the sake of gaining 3 seconds by not putting it on, it's worth that extra risk of death? I don't know of any of my mates that don't wear belts..... but I have smart mates. ;) Must just be the stupid ones that don't! They must think they look so cool and hard, they clearly don't need seatbelts, they'll never be in a crash, and if they are, they're tough enough to come through a crash unscathed.
 
One of my mates never wears a seatbelt, basically says he finds them uncomfortable. He was involved in a car accident not so long ago and due to the impact hit his forehead on the inside of the windscreen and cut himself. Didn't bleed to death or anything but lost some blood none the less. When I next saw him and he told me about the accident, I asked were you wearing a seatbelt to which his reply was 'no'. I said well I hope you've learnt your lesson and wear one from now on. He said don't be silly! :rolleyes:

Cheekster.
 
What sort of shaped body do you have to have for a seatbelt to be uncomfortable?! :confused: I don't even notice mine (except when I lean forward to creep out of a junction if I'm still braking because it won't let me lean when it locks!), and I bet most people don't even feel theirs either...
 
Maybe they have loads of dosh that there willing to give to the government in the form of a fine!!!!, to much money not enough sense.
 
Maybe they have loads of dosh that there willing to give to the government in the form of a fine!!!!, to much money not enough sense.

There's the problem though... it's hardly ever enforced. I don't know of one instance personally, of anyone being fined or prosecuted for not wearing a seatbelt. The young drivers where I live blatantly flount the law and I must admit, I find it particularly galling.... much like I did today driving on the motorway to Belfast and being overtaken at about 90mph by a bloke on a mobile phone and reading from a notebook held to the steering wheel!
 
im 25 since i can rememebr i auto put on a seatbelt, even if im in the back literally going 50 metres up the rd, just a god habbit,
and i feel odd if i drive without a seatbelt on, almost naked lol
 
Everytime I bag a lift I'm told to put the seatbelt on or to get out (I'm a uni student)

I'd say its a lot more common you don't out a seatbelt on in the back seat (I never - my bad)
 
I've never not worn a seatbelt. I'm 20.

I was confused when I heard the ads on the radio a while ago making out that people don't wear belts because they think it's uncool. I can't remember exactly how they went but the message was that it's not "cool" to not wear a seat belt. I wasn't aware people saw it as particularly uncool to wear one.


I don't drive anyone anywhere until they put their belt on. I've only had to tell one person off because all my friends do it anyway.

I put mine on without even thinking. It's like sticking the gears into neutral before starting the engine, I just do it as part of my routine.
 
I'd say its a lot more common you don't out a seatbelt on in the back seat (I never - my bad)
It is indeed a lot more common, as many people feel safe believing that in the event of an accident they will hit the nice soft front seats instead of the dashboard or windscreen. But if they saw the slow motion footage of simulated accidents they would realise that is simply not true, especially with small children who easily fit through the gap between the seats. And those nice soft front seats can be damaged beyond recognition by a 12 stone person being suddenly hurled at them.

I never allow anyone to not wear a seatbelt in the rear when I'm driving as I understand the force that they could hit me with in the event of an impact.

People feel safe at lower speeds too. But when my son wrote his car off (a brand new car, four hours after passing his driving test) I was stunned by how much damage was done to the car in a 30mph impact.
 
One my mates doesn't put on a seatbelt unless I tell him to when he gets in the car, he says "I feel safe driving around with you so I don't need it". Yep that's great, because I can magically stop other idiots hitting me at high speed. I always tell him to put it on or he isn't going anywhere with me.

Funny thing is his little cousin (probably about 7 or 8) came out with us one day and he didn't immediately put his belt on, I had to turn around and ask him to put it on. Even then he gave me a funny look:confused: Must be a family thing because his brother doesn't wear a seat belt either unless I ask him to.

If someone is in my car, they WILL wear a seatbelt, WHEREVER they sit!! There's no way I'm going to be killed by someone sitting in the back hitting me and splattering my brains for their laziness.
 
im 25 since i can rememebr i auto put on a seatbelt, even if im in the back literally going 50 metres up the rd, just a god habbit,
and i feel odd if i drive without a seatbelt on, almost naked lol

Are you really 25???? Did you text this in????:D
 
Personally I don't feel right if I don't put on my seatbelt. Always that feeling of impending doom.....I think more thought has to be put into rear seatbelts, As the rear seats are not adjustable sometimes they can be irritating. More adjustment options would be nice....
 
You should always wear a seatbelt : front or back. I've heard tales of unbelted backseat passengers smashing the front seat belted passengers.

I've also heard stories of unsecured back seat passengers being pulped into the gap under the front seats and firemen having to scrape them out with crowbars. Flying out through the windscreen is probably the least of your worries.
 
Personally I don't feel right if I don't put on my seatbelt. Always that feeling of impending doom.....I think more thought has to be put into rear seatbelts, As the rear seats are not adjustable sometimes they can be irritating. More adjustment options would be nice....

I'm the same, I feel physically unsafe if I don't have my seatbelt on, maybe its the car I drive - fiat cinquecento :D

I was being lazy once and drove to the postbox as it was freezing outside and even though it is only 100m up my road, I contemplated putting the seatbelt on then decided not to but I felt bad, and once driving I felt as if I was naked and going to be thrust foward at any moment lol...Maybe i'm subconsciously remembering all these crash test things they show on tv!
 
I've also heard stories of unsecured back seat passengers being pulped into the gap under the front seats and firemen having to scrape them out with crowbars. Flying out through the windscreen is probably the least of your worries.
I dont know.
I knew someone who was racing with someone else and over took a car on a bend, hit a oncoming car went though his windscreen, there windscreen and his body went over the top and left his head in their car.
 
What sort of shaped body do you have to have for a seatbelt to be uncomfortable?! :confused: I don't even notice mine (except when I lean forward to creep out of a junction if I'm still braking because it won't let me lean when it locks!), and I bet most people don't even feel theirs either...
Short. :rolleyes:

I'm 5 ft and I quite often find belts uncomfortable unless I can adjust the height or the seat enough. Never stops me wearing one though. I value my life more than a little discomfort.
 
I'm glad to see that most of the people on here have enough sense to wear theirs at all times. I always do, as does my wife. All three of my grandchildren wouldn't dream of not fastening theirs in a car with me, it is an automatic reaction for them to do so.

It's not going to be easy because I can't always watch drivers when I'm serving other customers, but I will try to conduct a survey to see just how many, and who are doing this. I may even try to find out why. It seems so stupid to take such unnecessary risks.
 
Must admit (hands-up) I've got a bad habit of fastening mine AS i drive away. Don't know why i do it as i know i should fasten it before i drive away but i just do it every time :rolleyes:
 
One of the reasons the airbag was developed was to allow for the fact that the wearing of a seatbelt wasn't mandatory at the time. I'm not sure if it's still not a federally mandated law.
 
I don't often wear a seat belt.

Many many years ago, my grandparents on my father side were involved in a car accident where my grandfather lost control of the car after a rear tyre blow out, and the car barrell rolled a couple times, ending up on it's roof. My grandfather was NOT wearing a seat belt (as he never did) and my grandmother WAS wearing hers (as she always did)

End result was my grandfather ended up sitting on the inside of the roof, with not a scratch on him - perfect condition, not a bruise, cut or anything.

My grandmother however was not as lucky. Due to the seatbelt, she remained in the seat, and suffered a fractured hip, and was confined to a walking frame for the rest of her life. Getting to later life, she basically had no motability, had to use a stairlift to go up and downstairs, a motorised buggy thing (forget what you call them) to get about round shops etc, or be pushed in a wheel chair, and a zimmer frame round the house.

Bear in mind this car accident happend while they were in the late 30's, early 40s.... Thats an AWFUL lot of life to lose....

Point 2 - Def Leppard drummer was involved in a car accident, and was wearing a seatbelt. His reuslt was the seatbelt ripped his arm off AT THE SHOULDER...

Now I am not saying that people who do wear seatbelts suffer most in accidents - that would be naive and stupid, as testing throughout the world has proven otherwise, and countless lives have been lost due to people NOT wearing them, but I find them a) restrictive and uncomfortable, and b) based on my grandparents experience - not something I want to go through.....
 
Now I am not saying that people who do wear seatbelts suffer most in accidents - that would be naive and stupid, as testing throughout the world has proven otherwise, and countless lives have been lost due to people NOT wearing them, but I find them a) restrictive and uncomfortable, and b) based on my grandparents experience - not something I want to go through.....
Do not understand B as you admit, the damage caused was the exeption not the rule.
 
I always wear one no matter what

but i find some people at uni just find it way to uncool, like people even care.

sometimes when i get near uni my mates will pull there belts off, so they look 'cool'. lol all that goes through my head is idiots!!! i even tell the clowns that
 
based on my grandparents experience - not something I want to go through.....
Well if you don't wear a seatbelt then you won't go through that. What you're much more likely to go through is a windscreen, but if that's your choice then so be it.

And on your other complaint, seatbelts are nowhere near as restrictive and uncomfortable as intensive care units or wheelchairs.
 

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