Every other episode there is an explosion or a force field or a supernova that sends half the crew hurtling around, sometimes killing them. If you’re travelling at 50 times the speed of light can’t you buckle up?
Why is it always the Captain, the Second-in-command, the chief engineer, the chief medical officer and the strange-looking guy who go to explore the new planet? What if there’s a terrible accident? A fourth lieutenant gets command of a flagship? Are there no exploration teams composed of a lieutenant, a sergeant and 4 or 5 privates?
After the multiple disasters that overcame the original starship Enterprise, later models were equipped with seat belts, notably the Enterprise-D, launched under the command of Captain Cameron, or whatever the hell his name was.
Unfortunately, the Federation did not get around to enacting seat belt legislation until after the disastrous Collapsing Hrung Disaster, somewhere out around Betelgeuse Seven. Consequently, a fair number of midshipmen continued to get hurt. If you look closely at Mr. Sulu’s ass in some shots, you can see the little dents where he was actually sitting on the metal buckle that should have been securely snapped around his waist.
This was largely an innovation of the original series, and was due to the “Rank Hath Its Priveliges” idea. After all, why should the highest ranking person aboard be restricted to the ship, rather than being first on a new planet, getting to name everything after his relatives, and boinking cute green space babes?
Later, the system was institutionalized by Starfleet in order to promote rapid promotion through the ranks, and eliminate clumsy flag officers, a system which remained in place up until the Battle Of Wolf 359, after which there WERE no clumsy flag officers…
Indeed. Someone has to die on almost every mission. The rank of Ensign tends to have some sort or magnetic property which attracts the laser beams, protecting the higher ranking officials.
Perhaps they got cocky with their inertial dampeners. It’s when they get hit with a volley of photon torpedos does inertia suddenly affect them.
Alors, Red Alert should include a “Fasten Seatbelts” sign!
2) In practical terms… What good are the actors if they don’t get any screen time?
In the old series (TOS) the red shirt wearing new guy would always be the first (if not only) one to get hurt and/or die. It was fun to notice the new-face actor in a red uniform back then! ;j
I always imagined what it was like down in Red-Shirt Central whenever there was a field mission.
“Ensign Jones, report to the transporter room.”
And poor Ensign Jones, who knows he’s going to die, manfully bids farewell to his luckier (for the moment) comrades, holsters that phaser which will do him no good, and goes to report. I wonder if they give him time for a Last Will and Testament? A phone call home to his family? Is there a betting pool as to whether he’ll come back?
There was a seatbelt uprising in the early 22nd century where seatbelts in most starships got fed up and attempted to take over all the ships. After a bitter three-year war, thousands of Starfleet personnel and civilians were killed but the seatbelt rebellion was crushed.
The Enterprise is equipped with laser passive restraints. KITT was equipped with them in Knight Rider and in Team Knight Rider, they mentioned a scientist who was also mentioned in TOS as the creater of Nomad. So they exist in the same universe, so they have the same technology.
Oh, and in a deleted scene from Nemesis, they put seat belts ont he captain’s chair during the repairs after the battle.
No, because Starfleet uses naval ranks, not army ones. rim shot
Of course there are… it’s just that those are the boring ones that we don’t see, just like there are un-illustrious but highly important exploration, diplomacy, rescue etc. missions going on all the time.
For example, when the Enterprise was rescuing Data from a time paradox that trapped him in turn-of-the-century San Francisco, the U.S.S. Alan Turing, under the abundantly competent command of Captain Eusebi Berga, was carrying on a quiet mission surveying L-class planets in the Heironis cluster in sector 543 near Beta Comae Berenices. ('Strue.) We just never heard about it, because, well, it’s boring as fuck.
There have been seatbelt laws in nearly every US state for decades.
The real reason you never see them on Star Trek is because then it would be more difficult for the actors to fall out of the chairs when they shake the cameras.
