# I got pulled over today :( **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [April 19, 2011, 2:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-got-pulled-over-today/578957 "2011-04-19T14:22:25Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Euphonious\_Polemic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/euphonious_polemic/32/3002_2.png) [@Euphonious\_Polemic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Euphonious_Polemic)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2011, 10:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-got-pulled-over-today/578957/41 "2011-04-19T22:48:39Z")
> [@engineer\_comp\_geek](#): > > It would be nice if law enforcement were used to catch real criminals, but I guess there isn’t enough profit in thieves and murderers. I’m OK with them enforcing laws that help prevent unnecessary injury or death. YMMV - you might be OK with unnecessary injury or death. ---
**Author:** ![minor7flat5](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/minor7flat5/32/258_2.png) [@minor7flat5](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/minor7flat5)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2011, 12:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-got-pulled-over-today/578957/42 "2011-04-20T00:15:19Z")
To be honest, I kind of wish our NJ law enforcement agencies would start focusing on cell phone usage, that great untapped reservoir of revenue. One day when I was out running I counted seven or eight folks yakking on their cell phones while driving before I stopped counting. Sounds like a win all around: curtail a more dangerous behavior while collecting $200 a pop! ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2011, 12:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-got-pulled-over-today/578957/43 "2011-04-20T00:21:02Z")
> [@rachelellogram](#): > > I’m not saying I didn’t deserve the ticket. I’m still sad though. ☹ We’d be sadder if you get killed. I was driving outside of Boston on a heavily traveled road, full of commuters, when I saw a Caddy get clipped, go into the air, over a guard rail, and land on its roof. Movie stunt quality. A bunch of people ran up to the car. The driver was wearing a seat belt, and, though upside down, was not hurt. My wife got hit by a red light runner less than a mile from home. He hit her right on the driver’s side door. Thanks to my Saturn’s good construction, she escaped with only very minor injuries, but if she had been thrown across the car into the window it would have been a lot worse. If you start wearing a seatbelt now, this fine might be the best money you ever paid. ---
**Author:** ![Markxxx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5daacb/32.png) [@Markxxx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Markxxx)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2011, 1:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-got-pulled-over-today/578957/44 "2011-04-20T01:51:45Z")
I know it kind of makes you mad, but you know what? So what? Everybody gets tickets, it’s not fun and it sucks to lose money but it happens. No point in making the situation worse. You did something wrong and got caught. We all have done this. Except for that one guy who never got a ticket and now will post here to point out the fact he has never gotten a ticket. Well to him/her I say, “You never got a ticket, but I will bet you that doesn’t mean you never violated a traffic law. You just didn’t get caught.” 🙂 Remember you could have lost your job, you could be in a position where you can’t afford to pay for that ticket. You could be needing medical help and not be able to afford it. This is one time to look at it on a larger scale. Things could be a LOT worse. Fifty years from now you and pretty much everyone else reading this now will be dead. No one cares, so just chalk it up to “one of those things” in life and please, don’t let this minor thing prevent you from being happy. We all get tickets, you’re not the first and you won’t be the last to get them. Seeing as you’re in such good company, cheer up. ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2011, 1:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-got-pulled-over-today/578957/45 "2011-04-20T01:54:20Z")
Fifty years from now, the twenty year olds on the board will only be 70. What do you know that we don’t, **Markxxx**? 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Bookkeeper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bookkeeper/32/281_2.png) [@Bookkeeper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bookkeeper)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2011, 4:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-got-pulled-over-today/578957/46 "2011-04-20T04:01:11Z")
> [@pohjonen](#): > > They can’t be adjusted ENOUGH. Nearly all seatbelts do this to me, even the ones in brand new cars. I’ve often wondered if they would break my neck in a bad accident. Before anyone nags, yes I wear the fuckers anyway and spend half my time pulling them off of my neck to quit choking. My wife is 5 foot nothing and uses a seat belt clip (like [this one](http://www.comfortableseatbeltclip.com/)) to get the shoulder belt properly positioned. ---
**Author:** ![flatlined](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/eb9ed0/32.png) [@flatlined](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/flatlined)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2011, 4:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-got-pulled-over-today/578957/47 "2011-04-20T04:21:27Z")
I’m so conditioned like\*\* Antigen \*\*that I just automatically put my seatbelt on everytime I start 4 wheeled vehicle. I used to let my passengers choose. About 10 years ago, someone ran a red light and made a left turn in front of me. I t-boned the driver and unsecured children. To this day, I can call up a mental image of my passenger flying forward into the windshield and bouncing back with a bloody face. I have no control what other drivers are doing, but now I don’t even start the car until everyone is strapped in. > [@mhendo](#): > > Another thing about motorcycle helmets is that there is some research suggesting that their benefit, in terms of protecting your head, is, to at least some extent, outweighed by a loss of peripheral vision and ability to hear other traffic noises. As a biker who lives in a state without a helmet law, I’ve also been told that wearing full helmets can actually cause more damage. When the head goes forward, the impact of the front of the helmet can break the collorbone and when the head goes back, the impact can break the neck and cause brainstem damage. I’ve had 2 friends go down and incure that sort of damage. They are both dead. I don’t think that a helmet will save me if I get hit by someone doing more than 40 mph. I do think that my helmet will save me in low speed accidents. Now, if I ever figure out who thought that a BLACK full helmet was a good idea in the desert, I’ll have to kick her butt…but that’s a different story. (It was me, btw :smack:) Back to the OP. Wear your seat belt. Something that hasn’t been mentioned is that if you suddenly have to swerve to avoid an accident, you will slide around in your seat and will have problems controlling your car. Not wearing a seatbelt could be the reason you have an accident. ---
**Author:** ![EvilTOJ](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ee59a6/32.png) [@EvilTOJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EvilTOJ)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2011, 8:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-got-pulled-over-today/578957/48 "2011-04-20T08:22:16Z")
Having been in two vehicle rollover accidents I always put on a seatbelt when I get in a car. I feel weird without it on. ---
**Author:** ![Novelty\_Bobble](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/a3d4f5/32.png) [@Novelty\_Bobble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Novelty_Bobble)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2011, 10:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-got-pulled-over-today/578957/49 "2011-04-20T10:26:40Z")
> [@Chopper9760](#): > > That bites, **rachelellogram**. I wear my seatbelt but it’s no one’s business if I choose not to do so. Not so. if you could guarantee that the only harm you cause is to yourself, then fine. However. An unsecured 60+kg item rattling around a car interior at high speed causes an immense amount of damage. I 'd say you have a responsibility to others in the car. I’m fine with people being stopped for seat-belt infractions, and people talking on phones as well, and drink driving. Where we have evidence that a driving behaviour has substantial potential to harm others then I have no problem making sure that laws are passed and enforced. ---
**Author:** ![Novelty\_Bobble](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/a3d4f5/32.png) [@Novelty\_Bobble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Novelty_Bobble)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2011, 10:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-got-pulled-over-today/578957/50 "2011-04-20T10:40:11Z")
And just to add to my previous point, when I was a teenager three of my close friends were being idiots and managed to have a massive pile up. Two survived (wearing belts) and one died (no belt). Same with the princess Di accident, The only one to survive was the security chap who wore his belt. All anecdotal of course but seriously,Wear your belt. They save lives for the cost of only a tiny amount of personal effort and discomfort. ---
**Author:** ![Wallenstein](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/b5a626/32.png) [@Wallenstein](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wallenstein)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2011, 10:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-got-pulled-over-today/578957/51 "2011-04-20T10:54:00Z")
> [@mhendo](#): > > While i’m not completely convinced by this argument, and plenty of safety experts also take issue with it, there is no such trade-off for seat belts. They make you safer. Period. With basically no downside at all. No cite, but I have read suggestions that there is a downside to seatbelts. By making drivers feel more secure there’s a suggestion that they drive faster and more “on the edge” than if they were floating free in the car. If you hammer round a corner your seatbelt can hold you in place, whereas without it you’d slide across the seat and therefore you’d drive slower. Same’s been argued for bike and motorcycle helmets - i.e. they give people a false sense of security and lead unconsciously to greater risk taking. It’s not a particuarly significant argument but there could be some mileage in it. ---
**Author:** ![Locrian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/locrian/32/14146_2.png) [@Locrian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Locrian)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2011, 11:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-got-pulled-over-today/578957/52 "2011-04-20T11:05:00Z")
> [@Wallenstein](#): > > It’s not a particuarly significant argument but there could be some mileage in it. Cute. But if those without the belts and those with the helmets are smashing into everything, how could there be any milage in that? 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Machine\_Elf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/82dd89/32.png) [@Machine\_Elf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Machine_Elf)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2011, 1:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-got-pulled-over-today/578957/53 "2011-04-20T13:12:34Z")
> [@Wallenstein](#): > > No cite, but I have read suggestions that there is a downside to seatbelts. > > By making drivers feel more secure there’s a suggestion that they drive faster and more “on the edge” than if they were floating free in the car. The concept is called “risk homeostasis.” it’s the idea that people seek a particular level of perceived risk, and if you take steps to mitigate their actual risk, they will adjust their behavior so as to restore the original level of perceived risk, obtaining additional benefits along the way. Since it’s all about _perceived_ risk, drivers may or may not erase the _actual_ risk reduction that the safety measure produced. I haven’t heard this about seat belts in particular, but it’s been used to explain, for example, why anti-lock brakes didn’t produce the expected reduction in accident rates when they were introduced. Free online book explaining the concept in great detail [here.](http://pavlov.psyc.queensu.ca/target/index.html) ---
**Author:** ![Rachellelogram](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rachellelogram/32/8689_2.png) [@Rachellelogram](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rachellelogram)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2011, 2:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-got-pulled-over-today/578957/54 "2011-04-20T14:12:13Z")
> [@MsWhatsit](#): > > I do not understand this thread. OP, do you enjoy being flamed? Because I honestly can’t think of another reason that you would post this. You even say right in the OP, “you can lecture me about safety if you want,” thus indicating that you know damn well the tone the thread is going to take. > > Being pulled over for no good reason sucks. Being pulled over for knowingly breaking a traffic violation… well, I guess it still sucks for you but I don’t really have a lot of sympathy for it. I didn’t come on here and post a sympathy thread when I got pulled over for doing 50 in a 35. I was doing 50 in a 35, dude. I deserved the ticket. Nobody’s going to give me sympathy for that, nor should they. Why did I make the post? Because this is MPSIMS and it’s something mundane I wanted to share. Maybe someone reading the topic lives in Naperville and will avoid getting the same ticket. And whether you feel sympathy or not, it still made my day significantly shittier. Why shouldn’t I have posted it? Is it too mundane? Too pointless? I didn’t think there was such a thing in this subforum. Instead of threadshitting, you could just avoid my post. ---
**Author:** ![MsWhatsit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/eb8c5e/32.png) [@MsWhatsit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MsWhatsit)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2011, 2:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-got-pulled-over-today/578957/55 "2011-04-20T14:17:11Z")
Fair enough. It seemed weird to me to post about something shitty that happened to you when you know full well that people are going to harsh on you for not wearing a seatbelt, but if you got some catharsis from posting it, OK. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2011, 2:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-got-pulled-over-today/578957/56 "2011-04-20T14:21:21Z")
> [@MsWhatsit](#): > > Fair enough. It seemed weird to me to post about something shitty that happened to you when you know full well that people are going to harsh on you for not wearing a seatbelt, but if you got some catharsis from posting it, OK. People are gonna be harsh? Not me. Personally, nanny state issues strike a chord. ---
**Author:** ![MsWhatsit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/eb8c5e/32.png) [@MsWhatsit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MsWhatsit)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2011, 2:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-got-pulled-over-today/578957/57 "2011-04-20T14:33:29Z")
Yes, people are going to be harsh. If you are not every single person, then this statement may not apply to you personally. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Swallowed\_My\_Cellphone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9d8465/32.png) [@Swallowed\_My\_Cellphone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Swallowed_My_Cellphone)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2011, 4:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-got-pulled-over-today/578957/58 "2011-04-20T16:21:26Z")
> [@Leaffan](#): > > Wearing a seat belt is the one simple thing that everyone can do to help prevent death or injury while riding in a vehicle. > > To not wear one is absolutely incomprehensible to me. I won’t leave the driveway till everyone’s bucked in. > > Then again seat belts have been mandatory here for 35 years. This would have been my post almost word for word. ---
**Author:** ![Lacunae\_Matata](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/8491ac/32.png) [@Lacunae\_Matata](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lacunae_Matata)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2011, 5:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-got-pulled-over-today/578957/59 "2011-04-20T17:06:59Z")
A couple of nights ago, one of my husband’s co-workers was first on the scene of a wreck involving two cars - one in which mom and three kids were seatbelted properly, the other in which two young men weren’t belted. The mom and three kids sustained minor, non-life-threatening injuries. In the other car, one young man is in ICU, not really expected to live. The other young man (age 18) was partially ejected from the car, and died before an ambulance could arrive. The dead 18-year-old was the son of another of Mr. Matata’s co-workers. The critically injured young man, if he survives, will live with the knowledge that he killed his best friend (assuming that he recovers enough brain function to comprehend that fact.) Two families are utterly devasted, almost entirely because their children couldn’t be bothered to spend those precious few seconds required to buckle a stupid seat belt. Tickets suck, sure, but somehow, a ticket seems like a very, very minor inconvenience, relatively speaking… ---
**Author:** ![Spit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/76d3ee/32.png) [@Spit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spit)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2011, 5:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-got-pulled-over-today/578957/60 "2011-04-20T17:34:18Z")
> [@Beadalin](#): > > The vast majority of car accidents happen close to the driver’s home. > [http://www.calculateme.com/car-insurance-articles/where-accidents-happen.htm](http://www.calculateme.com/car-insurance-articles/where-accidents-happen.htm) I believe it to be true, but I still think that to be a BS statistic. If I drive from my house to the grocery it’s a 1 mile drive. I drive the same mile, and pass that same grocery store to get to my office 70 miles away. I also drive that same mile, and pass that same grocery store on my way to Daytona Beach, FL, 700 miles away. Since every drive I take begins and ends at my residence, it only makes sense that most accidents would be in a smaller radius around my home. Always wear your seatbelt. It is moronic not to do so. With that said, seatbelt laws are stupid, and should be fought at every opportunity. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-got-pulled-over-today/578957.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-got-pulled-over-today/578957.md?page=4)