I just recalled that most people don’t know how to wear a seatbelt. I was never taught, like 95% of people, until I was 19 (so had been driving for a while) - when it turns out I was doing it wrong.
The important thing that most people get wrong is where the lap belt has to go. Basically, it needs to go around your belt area.
A lot of people instead wear it a bit higher, especially fat people or pregnant woman. The most important thing is, never have it on your belly. If you are fat or pregnant, make sure it’s tucked under your belly.
I’ve never had a problem with the lower bit, in my case it’s the diagonal part that’s a bitch, as it insists in trying to cut into my neck. Never seen anybody try to wear the bottom over a belly, at least anybody who was in the same car I was in; then again, the people I know who have bellies also have driving licenses, with one exception (and she tried to get one, but gave it up when turning around triggered excruciating pain), and “wearing your belt wrong” is an instant fail for the test. I’ve seen it on TV shows.
When I see someone in Spain talking about “wearing the belt wrong”, it’s inevitably a guy bitching about women’s love for those thick velcroed sleeves which keep the belt from sliding into a painful position and he inevitably gets chewed into tiny bits by any women present while the other guys make ready to call an ambulance if things get physical.
Is this something normally taught to new drivers in Spain then? Cause it definitely isn’t something I was taught, hence me mentioning I was 19 before I found out.
Of course it is. You have to wear the seatbelt properly, make sure your passengers wear it properly (usually the tester, your teacher and a second student from the same driving school), wear appropriate shoes… You’re responsible for the passenger’s behavior at all times, testers have been known to not put their belt on (instantaneous fail) or start a conversation with someone at the curb (you’re supposed to stop it but it’s not an instantaneous fail unless someone honks at you - which most other drivers won’t do if they realize you’re in a driver’s-school car; exams must be taken in a dual-controls car, thus one from a driving school). Not teaching that would be like not teaching how to start the car. There’s also police “information points” every summer making sure people have belts on and that they’re on correctly (they won’t fine you unless you get stupid, but they can make you feel like the smallest little idiot ever).
The Spanish exam’s written part has been accused of being written by a team of sadistic grammarians and the practical part involves a car with dual controls (if your copilot touches them, a light comes on and the car honks - instant fail), three passengers for whose behavior and well-being you’re responsible and takes place over half an hour in actual traffic. It always involves leaving a parallel-parking spot, parallel parking, starting in an upslope, at least one Stop sign (preferably in an upslope with bad visibility); it will not involve a tollway but in most locations will involve freeway traffic. Compared with that, the Florida exam with its clear questions and simple answers and the 10’ practical part in a flat, enclosed area with no other traffic and only perpendicular parking felt like a joke - I couldn’t believe we weren’t even going into traffic!
turns out that in Spain being caught doing one would lose you every point in your license including any bonuses, and land your ass in prison. When I explain what it is to Spaniards, I need to repeat the explanation because they don’t understand it at first. Then again, neither did I.
It’s not at all rare. I just did a google image search for fat person wearing seatbelt and the very first image was this one - which is how I used to wear my seatbelt until I was 19.
I grew up bouncing around unsecured in the back seat and I still always knew how to wear a seatbelt. I don’t remember, did a 1965 Ford Galaxy 500 even have seatbelts in the back?
Is this just a fat person thing? When I put on a seat belt, the lap belt just goes where it goes. If I wrenched it up to my belly it would just fall back to my beltline. But I’m not fat, so I have no idea what the OP is talking about.
I do remember back in the day when shoulder belts hadn’t been invented yet and seat belts had to be tightened. Those could cut into your gut if you weren’t careful. But I haven’t had that problem in any car made since, oh, 1980.
I still don’t know what “belt line” is referencing. My belt goes just under my belly button, which is not where a seat belt should sit. I’m a short female, who is also very short-waisted. My seat belt goes over my hips, where everyone’s should sit. Referring to a “belt line” may be misleading for some people, and make them mistakenly think “waist” or “near waist.” It’s your hips the seat belt should be snugged up to, in a sitting position, it’s below my belt by a good couple/few inches. Like this.
I also have issues with the shoulder belt being too high and sometimes cutting across my neck, but in cars I’ve been in that have been made in the last decade or so, they all have an adjuster that I can slide down and then it’s fine. Even if I’m a guest passenger in someone else’s car, I will make the adjustment because it’s just too uncomfortable not to.
You have very odd ways of describing things, no offense. In the OP you said not to wear it around your belly/gut but at your belt line. I was already and then this pic confirmed it.
Why are you saying to wear it at your belt line? To me, that’s describing the position you say is incorrect as well. The image you just linked is one I would agree shows incorrect usage, but I’d also describe it as being on the belt area.
I agree with SeaDragonTattoo. A seat belt should go across your hips, basically just a bit above where your legs bend when you sit. I mean, do you wear your pants like this or something?
Most men’s jeans have a belt that’s roughly at the hip, more so in recent years when “low rise” became the norm. Mom jeans, by contrast, go up to the navel. So I agree that we shouldn’t be using “belt line” as a descriptor, but it’s not necessarily true that we’re all saggy bottoms either
Many places don’t have it. Most of the people caught driving with inappropriate shoes in Spain are tourists; the cops love it when they run into a local driving with flip-flops (or at least, the cops I know do), as that’s someone they can hit with a ticket and expect it to be worth the paper it’s printed on. Safety-related items are one of the things in which there’s a lot of variation in road codes (the Spanish law isn’t only about people in vehicles, it covers pedestrian behavior on the road/street as well).
and then this pic confirmed it.
