# When do you fasten your seat belt? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [September 12, 2012, 4:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-do-you-fasten-your-seat-belt/634513 "2012-09-12T16:06:44Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2012, 4:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-do-you-fasten-your-seat-belt/634513/1 "2012-09-12T16:06:44Z")
When do you fasten your seat belt? I usually don’t remember until I am already driving down the road, but I always fasten it within a few minutes of driving. PTF ---
**Author:** ![delphica](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e9a140/32.png) [@delphica](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/delphica)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2012, 4:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-do-you-fasten-your-seat-belt/634513/2 "2012-09-12T16:15:14Z")
It’s funny you ask, because I recently started pondering WHY I fasten the seat belt after I start the car. It doesn’t seem to make sense, surely it should be before I turn the ignition, right? Starting the car and taking it out of park should flow right into each other, without the interruption of the seat belt. But it is SO ingrained and I’ve been doing it that way ever since I started driving. 1. start car 2. fasten seatbelt 3. take the car out of park 4. drive ---
**Author:** ![Springtime\_for\_Spacers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a3d4f5/32.png) [@Springtime\_for\_Spacers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Springtime_for_Spacers)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2012, 4:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-do-you-fasten-your-seat-belt/634513/3 "2012-09-12T16:17:59Z")
Passengers use seat belts too, why have you excluded us from your poll. I put the seat belt on as soon as I am sat in the car, before the driver sets off, unless they are very quick off the mark. ---
**Author:** ![Covered\_In\_Bees](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/7ab992/32.png) [@Covered\_In\_Bees](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Covered_In_Bees)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2012, 4:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-do-you-fasten-your-seat-belt/634513/4 "2012-09-12T16:19:39Z")
Before I start the engine and I take off my seat belt after turning off the engine. ---
**Author:** ![Ruby\_Slippers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/94ad74/32.png) [@Ruby\_Slippers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ruby_Slippers)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2012, 4:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-do-you-fasten-your-seat-belt/634513/5 "2012-09-12T16:22:49Z")
I always fasten my seat belt before I start the engine. My husband, on the other hand, is one of those who frequently waits until he has not only started the engine but put it in gear and started moving. It drives me nuts when he’s trying to steer the car with one hand while fumbling with his seat belt with the other. ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2012, 4:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-do-you-fasten-your-seat-belt/634513/6 "2012-09-12T16:31:42Z")
> [@Springtime\_for\_Spacers](#): > > Passengers use seat belts too, why have you excluded us from your poll. I put the seat belt on as soon as I am sat in the car, before the driver sets off, unless they are very quick off the mark. This. ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2012, 4:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-do-you-fasten-your-seat-belt/634513/7 "2012-09-12T16:36:42Z")
I usually do it as I’m backing out of the driveway, but before I hit the street or at least before I’ve made it more then a few feet after I put the car in drive. Sometimes it’s on before the engine is started, sometimes after it’s started but before it’s in gear, sometimes while I’m halfway down the driveway. It all kind of depends on if I got into the car carrying stuff, if I’m fumbling around with something as I sit down, if I’m reaching into the back seat to help my daughter with something etc etc etc. It’s one of those things that I don’t really pay attention to, I just make sure it’s on once I start driving. If it makes a difference, I live on a very quiet street. When I lived on a busy street, it would be on before I made it out of the driveway. Hell, I usually put it on even if I was just moving the car from the street to the driveway. ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2012, 4:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-do-you-fasten-your-seat-belt/634513/8 "2012-09-12T16:57:17Z")
> [@Springtime\_for\_Spacers](#): > > Passengers use seat belts too, why have you excluded us from your poll. What would you have me do, double the number of answers, one for drivers, and one for passengers? Obssessive attention to detail is creepy, or so I am told. You couldn’t just answer as if you were the driver? The timing is the same, and that is the point of the poll. ---
**Author:** ![Covered\_In\_Bees](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/7ab992/32.png) [@Covered\_In\_Bees](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Covered_In_Bees)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2012, 5:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-do-you-fasten-your-seat-belt/634513/9 "2012-09-12T17:01:20Z")
> [@](#): > > You couldn’t just answer as if you were the driver? The absurdity of the question makes me think it was intended as a joke, but I have been known to overestimate people sometimes. ---
**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:** [September 12, 2012, 5:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-do-you-fasten-your-seat-belt/634513/10 "2012-09-12T17:15:45Z")
I recall hearing about a couple of horrific car collision deaths this summer, and wondering about seatbelt usage (the people killed horrifically were almost all not wearing seatbelts). I really don’t understand people who are killed by being thrown from a vehicle in this day and age - cars are miracles of safety engineering these days, but that’s all predicated on the monkey behind the steering wheel actually _putting on the belt._ Colour me 😕 ---
**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:** [September 12, 2012, 5:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-do-you-fasten-your-seat-belt/634513/11 "2012-09-12T17:24:40Z")
Belt goes on as soon as I sit down in the car. It’s such an ingrained habit that I feel really weird just moving the car between the garage and driveway (e.g. for washing or maintenance) without putting my seatbelt on. ---
**Author:** ![Lust4Life](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ecc23a/32.png) [@Lust4Life](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lust4Life)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2012, 5:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-do-you-fasten-your-seat-belt/634513/12 "2012-09-12T17:30:54Z")
I expected that we’ve all laughed when a car pulls away in front of us and then either slows right down while they put on their seat belt, holding up all of the traffic behind them. OR starts going all over the place while doing so. Its because they’re such incredibly good drivers. Honestly ! ---
**Author:** ![Skammer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skammer/32/143_2.png) [@Skammer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skammer)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2012, 5:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-do-you-fasten-your-seat-belt/634513/13 "2012-09-12T17:37:37Z")
I also start the engine, put on my seatbelt, then put the car in gear and drive away. Maybe a holdover from when I lived in a very cold climate and needed to let the engine run a little bit first. I would never actually drive or ride in a moving car without a seatbelt though. I’m grateful that the very first car I ever owned - a 1978 Toyota Celica - has a very loud and annoying seatbelt alarm. That put me in the habit of wearing it right at the beginning of my driving career. ---
**Author:** ![Scubaqueen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c0e974/32.png) [@Scubaqueen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scubaqueen)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2012, 5:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-do-you-fasten-your-seat-belt/634513/14 "2012-09-12T17:38:34Z")
After I was a front-seat passenger in a 1981 rear-end collision (our vehicle was the rear-ender) that resulted in the trashing of my left knee on the dashboard (which saved my face from the windshield. my knee didn’t do much for the dashboard), I started wearing seatbelts religiously. Before the collision, I put it on only if I thought about it. ---
**Author:** ![Kevbo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/e47774/32.png) [@Kevbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kevbo)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2012, 5:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-do-you-fasten-your-seat-belt/634513/15 "2012-09-12T17:43:22Z")
I am very tall and have long arms. Often the door gets in the way of my elbows when getting my belt on, so I normally fasten my seat belt before I close the door. ---
**Author:** ![Dendarii\_Dame](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/bbce88/32.png) [@Dendarii\_Dame](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dendarii_Dame)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2012, 5:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-do-you-fasten-your-seat-belt/634513/16 "2012-09-12T17:45:17Z")
I voted for “after I start the engine, but before I drive away”. That’s because I don’t have an automatic garage door control, so I back out, close the garage door, and then drive away. If I’m in a parking lot or something like that, I put on the safety belt before I start the engine. ---
**Author:** ![muldoonthief](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muldoonthief/32/3188_2.png) [@muldoonthief](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/muldoonthief)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2012, 5:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-do-you-fasten-your-seat-belt/634513/17 "2012-09-12T17:49:54Z")
If I’m driving forwards from wherever I’m parked - after I start the car, before I put it in gear. If I have to back up out of the garage or parking space - after I’m done backing up. It’s a lot easier for me to turn all the way around to look out the back window of the minivan if I don’t have my seatbelt on, and I’m willing to risk the 3mph collision I might have during that time. ---
**Author:** ![Paintcharge](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/paintcharge/32/7946_2.png) [@Paintcharge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Paintcharge)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2012, 6:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-do-you-fasten-your-seat-belt/634513/18 "2012-09-12T18:07:52Z")
Key out to unlock the door into the ignition engine on parking brake off seat belt on into gear and drive away. It’s uncomfortable to fasten the seat belt with stuff in my hands. ---
**Author:** ![SciFiSam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/47e85d/32.png) [@SciFiSam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SciFiSam)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2012, 6:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-do-you-fasten-your-seat-belt/634513/19 "2012-09-12T18:39:23Z")
I don’t drive, so answered as a passenger considering when the driver starts the engine. I put the seatbelt on as soon as I get in the car. Occasionally crashes occur where another vehicle hits a parked car, and it’s no hassle to have the seatbelt on early. ---
**Author:** ![Suburban\_Plankton](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/suburban_plankton/32/219_2.png) [@Suburban\_Plankton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Suburban_Plankton)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2012, 7:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-do-you-fasten-your-seat-belt/634513/20 "2012-09-12T19:36:09Z")
If I’m at home, I usually get in the car, start it up, back out out the driveway, then fasten my seat belt as I’m shifting from reverse to first gear. If I’m in a parking lot, I do the same thing. If I’m parked on the street, or somewhere else where I’m going to start moving forward immediately, I generally fasten the belt before moving. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-do-you-fasten-your-seat-belt/634513.md?page=2)