# Why no seat belts on Star Trek? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [February 15, 2005, 9:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-no-seat-belts-on-star-trek/290265 "2005-02-15T21:59:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 6
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2014, 11:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-no-seat-belts-on-star-trek/290265/101 "2014-03-04T23:17:05Z")
> [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](#): > > How do you ST heavy-hitters like the re-boot concept that says the Enterprise doesn’t move at all, but all of space moves around the Enterprise? > > Don’t shoot the messenger!:eek: I’ve heard that, though it was more a case of the ship and the space surrounding it gliding through the rest of space like a surfer on a wave. Dunno about you, but it makes perfect sense to me! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2014, 11:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-no-seat-belts-on-star-trek/290265/102 "2014-03-04T23:19:10Z")
> [@Crafter\_Man](#): > > Sorry for the hijack, but here’s what I don’t understand about Star Trek: why do they always send the most valuable people down to a planet? Because they’re the stars of the show, are being paid higher salaries than the rest of the cast, and we all know they won’t really be killed anyway. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![levdrakon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/49beb7/32.png) [@levdrakon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/levdrakon)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2014, 11:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-no-seat-belts-on-star-trek/290265/103 "2014-03-04T23:21:29Z")
When I was a kid watching TOS I assumed ships’ hulls were made out of some super-strong future alloy or something. Then somewhere along the line I got the idea that without the various shields, deflectors and hull integrity fields, large ships were so much paper-mache. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2014, 11:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-no-seat-belts-on-star-trek/290265/104 "2014-03-04T23:26:15Z")
> [@johnpost](#): > > zombie or no > > when the Seaview got rocked they were thrown from side to side. do you expect the ST crew to be less. they both stared danger in the face and didn’t blink. I used to love whenever that happened. At summer camp, when we would go on field trips, we used to play “Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea” and tried to tip the schoolbus over by throwing ourselves from side to side of the interior. In the voice of Stewie Griffin, “Ah, good times!” 😃 ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2014, 11:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-no-seat-belts-on-star-trek/290265/105 "2014-03-04T23:31:25Z")
> [@levdrakon](#): > > When I was a kid watching TOS I assumed ships’ hulls were made out of some super-strong future alloy or something. Then somewhere along the line I got the idea that without the various shields, deflectors and hull integrity fields, large ships were so much paper-mache. Hell, the shields on any Federation ship buckle after three or four hits, the circuits blow, and the crew members fall out of their chairs and die. How long do think even the _Enterprise-D_ would last in battle? :dubious: ---
**Author:** ![AncientHumanoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ancienthumanoid/32/278_2.png) [@AncientHumanoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AncientHumanoid)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2014, 1:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-no-seat-belts-on-star-trek/290265/106 "2014-03-05T01:40:59Z")
> [@terentii](#): > > I’ve heard that, though it was more a case of the ship and the space surrounding it gliding through the rest of space like a surfer on a wave. > > Dunno about you, but it makes perfect sense to me! 😃 Yeah, but what gets difficult about that is what is happening with “all of space” when several ships are at warp at the same time? I’ve seen this question on different Trekky websites, but I don’t recall any canonical cites from any of them. Seen any? ---
**Author:** ![AncientHumanoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ancienthumanoid/32/278_2.png) [@AncientHumanoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AncientHumanoid)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2014, 1:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-no-seat-belts-on-star-trek/290265/107 "2014-03-05T01:43:05Z")
> [@AncientHumanoid](#): > > Yeah, but what gets difficult about that is what is happening with “all of space” when several ships are at warp at the same time? I’ve seen this question on different Trekky websites, but I don’t recall any canonical cites from any of them. > > Seen any? Meant to quote burpo’s post. :smack: :dubious: ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2014, 2:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-no-seat-belts-on-star-trek/290265/108 "2014-03-05T02:00:26Z")
> [@AncientHumanoid](#): > > Yeah, but what gets difficult about that is what is happening with “all of space” when several ships are at warp at the same time? I’ve seen this question on different Trekky websites, but I don’t recall any canonical cites from any of them. > > Seen any? No, but why would that be a problem? 😕 If it’s a question of their spaces overlapping, that happened once in _ **Enterprise** _, when crew transferred directly from one ship to another after they matched their warp speed. No problemo! ---
**Author:** ![AncientHumanoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ancienthumanoid/32/278_2.png) [@AncientHumanoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AncientHumanoid)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2014, 2:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-no-seat-belts-on-star-trek/290265/109 "2014-03-05T02:09:13Z")
All of space moving around one ship to get it to where it is going would include all of those other ships. How are multiple ships using all of space, including those other ships, ever going to actually get anywhere? If it’s canon, some treknobabble will come up at some time to explain how each individual ship gets to use all of space. Heart of Gold could do it, but even that was infinitely improbable. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![AncientHumanoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ancienthumanoid/32/278_2.png) [@AncientHumanoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AncientHumanoid)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2014, 2:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-no-seat-belts-on-star-trek/290265/110 "2014-03-05T02:12:13Z")
It’s the “all” that causes the issue. If they just say “space moves,” then a treknobabble explanation is more likeable. IMHO ymmv ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2014, 2:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-no-seat-belts-on-star-trek/290265/111 "2014-03-05T02:26:45Z")
> [@terentii](#): > > … If it’s a question of their spaces overlapping, that happened once in _ **Enterprise** _, when crew transferred directly from one ship to another after they matched their warp speed. No problemo! They did that once or twice on ST:TNG, too. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2014, 2:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-no-seat-belts-on-star-trek/290265/112 "2014-03-05T02:28:46Z")
> [@AncientHumanoid](#): > > All of space moving around one ship to get it to where it is going would include all of those other ships. How are multiple ships using all of space, including those other ships, ever going to actually get anywhere? They’re just surfin’ through space, dude! Just … _surfin’_, y’know? ( **Puff!** ) :o ---
**Author:** ![AncientHumanoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ancienthumanoid/32/278_2.png) [@AncientHumanoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AncientHumanoid)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2014, 2:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-no-seat-belts-on-star-trek/290265/113 "2014-03-05T02:31:14Z")
I like it! - John Bigbooty ---
**Author:** ![leahcim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/b4bc9f/32.png) [@leahcim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/leahcim)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2014, 4:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-no-seat-belts-on-star-trek/290265/114 "2014-03-05T16:13:04Z")
> [@terentii](#): > > They’re just surfin’ through space, dude! Just … _surfin’_, y’know? ( **Puff!** ) :o Wasn’t that the point of the “[Soliton wave](http://en.memory-alpha.org/wiki/Soliton_wave)” episode? ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2014, 9:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-no-seat-belts-on-star-trek/290265/115 "2014-03-10T09:55:15Z")
> [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](#): > > How do you ST heavy-hitters like the re-boot concept that says the Enterprise doesn’t move at all, but all of space moves around the Enterprise? Missed this the first time around, but that’s also the principle behind Farnsworth’s dark matter engine on _ **Futurama** _. [http://futurama.wikia.com/wiki/Dark\_matter\_engine](http://futurama.wikia.com/wiki/Dark_matter_engine) ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2014, 9:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-no-seat-belts-on-star-trek/290265/116 "2014-03-10T09:58:29Z")
> [@leahcim](#): > > Wasn’t that the point of the “[Soliton wave](http://en.memory-alpha.org/wiki/Soliton_wave)” episode? Sounds like needing a stationary generator off the ship doesn’t work too well. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![Alba](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ea666f/32.png) [@Alba](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alba)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2014, 7:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-no-seat-belts-on-star-trek/290265/117 "2014-03-11T07:44:11Z")
> [@terentii](#): > > Cite? :dubious: A bit late, but yes I was mistaking the bridge for the saucer. ---
**Author:** ![GreenElf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/9de053/32.png) [@GreenElf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GreenElf)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2014, 2:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-no-seat-belts-on-star-trek/290265/118 "2014-03-16T14:23:08Z")
The company that built the Enterprise was too cheap to include seat belts. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2014, 3:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-no-seat-belts-on-star-trek/290265/119 "2014-03-16T15:35:41Z")
> [@GreenElf](#): > > The company that built the Enterprise was too cheap to include seat belts. Nope, that was penny-pinching (or rather, “credit-pinching”) by the Federation Council! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![AncientHumanoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ancienthumanoid/32/278_2.png) [@AncientHumanoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AncientHumanoid)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2014, 3:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-no-seat-belts-on-star-trek/290265/120 "2014-03-16T15:50:10Z")
It’s because YoYo-Dyne was a Big Bootay Production. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-no-seat-belts-on-star-trek/290265.md?page=5) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-no-seat-belts-on-star-trek/290265.md?page=7)