# Would you wear your seatbelt if you didn't have to? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [January 2, 2006, 5:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-wear-your-seatbelt-if-you-didnt-have-to/338048 "2006-01-02T05:11:07Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Dante](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dante/32/9673_2.png) [@Dante](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dante)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2006, 3:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-wear-your-seatbelt-if-you-didnt-have-to/338048/61 "2006-01-04T15:53:47Z")
My FIL used to try and refuse to wear his seatbelt when I’d drive him anywhere. I showed him [this video](http://www.ebaumsworld.com/noseatbelt.html), and told him to imagine his daughter sitting in the back seat. He wears it now. **Site might have mildly NSFW ads. Video is not graphic** ---
**Author:** ![Revtim](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/revtim/32/1042_2.png) [@Revtim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Revtim)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2006, 4:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-wear-your-seatbelt-if-you-didnt-have-to/338048/62 "2006-01-04T16:05:22Z")
My parents trained me well to always wear the belts, long before there were laws requiring them. I’d feel VERY uncomfortable driving without them strapped on. Too bad that’s pretty much the only good habit they tried to instill in me that stuck… ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2006, 4:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-wear-your-seatbelt-if-you-didnt-have-to/338048/63 "2006-01-04T16:15:05Z")
> [@Dante](#): > > My FIL used to try and refuse to wear his seatbelt when I’d drive him anywhere. > > I showed him [this video](http://www.ebaumsworld.com/noseatbelt.html), and told him to imagine his daughter sitting in the back seat. > > He wears it now. > > **Site might have mildly NSFW ads. Video is not graphic** It isn’t graphic, but are we still actually watching someone die or sustain serious injury in that video? - it looks like the bit of the car hs head falls back into is the underside in contact with the ground or road ---
**Author:** ![UncleRojelio](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/unclerojelio/32/3160_2.png) [@UncleRojelio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UncleRojelio)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2006, 4:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-wear-your-seatbelt-if-you-didnt-have-to/338048/64 "2006-01-04T16:26:48Z")
> [@Running with Scissors](#): > > ? So, running with scissors is okay, but driving without a seatbelt is not??? :dubious: Just messing with you, not really intended as a dig, just couldn’t resist the combination of username and topic ---
**Author:** ![Running\_with\_Scissors](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/a183cd/32.png) [@Running\_with\_Scissors](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Running_with_Scissors)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2006, 4:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-wear-your-seatbelt-if-you-didnt-have-to/338048/65 "2006-01-04T16:30:03Z")
> [@UncleRojelio](#): > > So, running with scissors is okay, but driving without a seatbelt is not??? :dubious: Running with Scissors is a **right** , not a privilege! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Dante](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dante/32/9673_2.png) [@Dante](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dante)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2006, 5:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-wear-your-seatbelt-if-you-didnt-have-to/338048/66 "2006-01-04T17:08:11Z")
> [@Mangetout](#): > > It isn’t graphic, but are we still actually watching someone die or sustain serious injury in that video? - it looks like the bit of the car hs head falls back into is the underside in contact with the ground or road I guess it’s possible. I should have specified that it’s not graphic in the sense of you don’t see anything get broken or torn off, and there isn’t any blood. The video is of the interior of a vehicle, with one occupant (the driver). It appears he nods off, and is involved in an accident (he wakes up pretty quickly at this point), where the car flips over. He’s not wearing a seatbelt, and he gets bounced around the interior of the vehicle pretty good. Since the camera view always keeps the car “upright” from our perspective, it’s hard to tell how the car ends up. I thought the car ended up on its roof, but I could be wrong. I have no idea if he sustained any injuries or died. Hope I didn’t post a snuff video… :eek: ---
**Author:** ![Aangelica](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b2d939/32.png) [@Aangelica](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aangelica)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2006, 5:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-wear-your-seatbelt-if-you-didnt-have-to/338048/67 "2006-01-04T17:38:50Z")
I always wear one. Nothing quite so educational as a near-death car accident to teach you the advisability of basic safety precautions. Two people in a car. Passenger wearing her belt, driver not so much. Car hits deer going approximately 60 miles an hour. The funeral for the driver was very moving. The passenger sustained some bruising and a concussion, but didn’t require so much as an overnight hospital stay. Although the seat-belt-shaped bruise on my chest and belly took _weeks_ to fade. ---
**Author:** ![Asimovian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asimovian/32/172_2.png) [@Asimovian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Asimovian)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2006, 5:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-wear-your-seatbelt-if-you-didnt-have-to/338048/68 "2006-01-04T17:44:46Z")
> [@Dante](#): > > My FIL used to try and refuse to wear his seatbelt when I’d drive him anywhere. > > I showed him [this video](http://www.ebaumsworld.com/noseatbelt.html), and told him to imagine his daughter sitting in the back seat. > > He wears it now. > > **Site might have mildly NSFW ads. Video is not graphic** Not graphic, but disturbing nonetheless. \ Still, a very good demonstration of why a seatbelt is a good idea. I’m trying to figure out why this guy would have had himself on camera in the first place, though. ---
**Author:** ![Dante](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dante/32/9673_2.png) [@Dante](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dante)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2006, 5:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-wear-your-seatbelt-if-you-didnt-have-to/338048/69 "2006-01-04T17:51:36Z")
> [@Asimovian](#): > > I’m trying to figure out why this guy would have had himself on camera in the first place, though. I was thinking the same thing. The only thing I can come up with is cab driver. ---
**Author:** ![RancidYakButterTeaParty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/53a042/32.png) [@RancidYakButterTeaParty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RancidYakButterTeaParty)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2006, 5:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-wear-your-seatbelt-if-you-didnt-have-to/338048/70 "2006-01-04T17:57:58Z")
I hardly ever wear mine, even though it is required by law in Ohio. I would say I wear it less than 1% of the time I am in a vehicle. If someone else asks me to put it on, then I will. Don’t know why–don’t really think about it. ---
**Author:** ![Ponder\_Stibbons](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ponder_stibbons/32/343_2.png) [@Ponder\_Stibbons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ponder_Stibbons)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2006, 6:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-wear-your-seatbelt-if-you-didnt-have-to/338048/71 "2006-01-04T18:05:03Z")
Always wear it. Even if I’m driving through a big-ass parking lot from one store to another and I never get on a public road. ---
**Author:** ![Running\_with\_Scissors](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/a183cd/32.png) [@Running\_with\_Scissors](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Running_with_Scissors)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2006, 6:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-wear-your-seatbelt-if-you-didnt-have-to/338048/72 "2006-01-04T18:49:37Z")
> [@Aangelica](#): > > Car hits deer going approximately 60 miles an hour. Now I have an image of my head of the Far Side cartoon; the one with the antelopes (impalas, maybe?) with the word “Turbo” painted on their sides and one lion saying to another, “Don’t bother with those guys”. ---
**Author:** ![Kizarvexius](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/da6949/32.png) [@Kizarvexius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kizarvexius)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2006, 7:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-wear-your-seatbelt-if-you-didnt-have-to/338048/73 "2006-01-04T19:34:04Z")
I used to drive my brother and his friends to school in the morning. He was a surly 16 year-old who took great offense when I demanded he buckle up. I’m not sure what his reasons were. Maybe it was a “control” thing, or maybe he thought seat belts were for wimps. Whatever the case, I tried a number of different tactics to get him to wear his seat belt. First I tried the we’re-not-moving-until-you-buckle-up gambit. Didn’t work. He’d comply just long enough to get the car moving, then unbuckle when I reached the freeway. The next thing I tried was stomping on the brakes suddenly. That just made him more determined than ever, even as he nursed bruises on his arms from hitting the back of my seat. Finally, one morning, I turned to him and said “Look, o brother of mine. I am not insisting on your wearing a seatbelt because of any concern for your safety. Frankly, I don’t care if you live or die (okay so I lied), I just don’t want you taking _my_ head off when you fly through the windshield at 75 MPH.” He looked at me, gave a noncommittal shrug, and buckled up. Never had problems after that. ---
**Author:** ![Raguleader](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/258eb7/32.png) [@Raguleader](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Raguleader)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2006, 7:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-wear-your-seatbelt-if-you-didnt-have-to/338048/74 "2006-01-04T19:41:46Z")
I was raised to wear seatbelts, still do to this day. Just feels more secure. Had to take a Defensive Driving class a few months ago, and the instructor related a story about a girl who was driving her car down a residential street with no seatbelt on. Someone backed out of a driveway and hit her car, throwing her out of the driver’s seat (and more importantly: away from the brake pedal and steering wheel), and her car hit another vehicle head-on, killing the driver. ---
**Author:** ![Kevbo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/e47774/32.png) [@Kevbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kevbo)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2006, 12:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-wear-your-seatbelt-if-you-didnt-have-to/338048/75 "2006-01-05T00:21:58Z")
Always wore the belt and shoulder harness, even in my first caro ('70 maverick) that required buckling it seperatly. If vehicle manufacturers offered 5 point harnesses as an option, I might be tempted to buy a new car. I also always wear a lid and other safety gear on my motorcycles…optional in my state. ---
**Author:** ![Stillwell\_Angel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/96bed5/32.png) [@Stillwell\_Angel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stillwell_Angel)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2006, 12:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-wear-your-seatbelt-if-you-didnt-have-to/338048/76 "2006-01-05T12:31:48Z")
My sister died in a car crash in 1971, no seatbelt. She was also asleep at the time (in the backseat, not at the wheel). To this day I have never been able to sleep in a car, not even on very long road trips. I always wear my seatbelt! ---
**Author:** ![N9IWP](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/n9iwp/32/3154_2.png) [@N9IWP](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/N9IWP)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2006, 12:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-wear-your-seatbelt-if-you-didnt-have-to/338048/77 "2006-01-05T12:39:43Z")
Count me amoung those who feel wierd NOT wearing a seatbelt. I’m a pilot, and technically passengers don’t have to wear seatbelts (except for landing & take off) - I make them wear them all the time. Brian ---
**Author:** ![Anaamika](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Anaamika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anaamika)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2006, 1:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-wear-your-seatbelt-if-you-didnt-have-to/338048/78 "2006-01-05T13:16:56Z")
Is anyone really going to admit here that they don’t, that they refuse to? FTR, of course I wear mine, I just can’t see anyone coming in here and admitting the opposite. ---
**Author:** ![Silentgoldfish](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e36b37/32.png) [@Silentgoldfish](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Silentgoldfish)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2006, 1:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-wear-your-seatbelt-if-you-didnt-have-to/338048/79 "2006-01-05T13:28:00Z")
> [@Anaamika](#): > > Is anyone really going to admit here that they don’t, that they refuse to? > > FTR, of course I wear mine, I just can’t see anyone coming in here and admitting the opposite. If you’d actually read the thread before you rush to post you’d see that several people actually have. ---
**Author:** ![Anaamika](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Anaamika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anaamika)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2006, 1:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-wear-your-seatbelt-if-you-didnt-have-to/338048/80 "2006-01-05T13:48:15Z")
> [@Silentgoldfish](#): > > If you’d actually read the thread before you rush to post you’d see that several people actually have. I’m sorry, I actually did read the whole thread. I thought I didn’t see anyone posting about themselves not wearing it, but other people. Perhaps I missed it. I’ll go read it again. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-wear-your-seatbelt-if-you-didnt-have-to/338048.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-wear-your-seatbelt-if-you-didnt-have-to/338048.md?page=5)