There are few things that can harsh my mellow
more than a moving violation.
I know the cop was doing his job, and he was polite, and he warned me for the 9 over.
but I got a ticket for no seatbelt.
Now, I have no trouble with the right kind of restraints. A five point is an excellent idea in any vehicle, and I’d put one in the truck if it was legal, and I’d use it.
I hate seatbelts. I do not drink the koolade that says they save lives. I have yet to see any compelling evidence that they do, that was compiled by independant individuals, on modern vehicles. Each time I have been in an accident I have been harmed more by the seatbelt than by the accident itself.
I also don’t buy that somehow driving with a seatbelt is in any way more dangerous than riding a motorcycle, which is legal. No motorcycle has seatbelts. Driving a motorcycle, like driving a car, is inherently dangerous, and it is predominantly the skill of the driver that mitigates that danger, not spurious ill conceived pseudo safety equipment.
But I can’t fight this, no matter how I try. So after thirty two years of driving predominantly without a seatbelt, I’m going to begin wearing mine, and my rage at this burns with the fury of ten thousand suns. But this isn’t the hill I want to die on, and so I’ll knuckle under to this bullshit and deal, and hope the creeping incrimental bullshit stops there, at least for now.
21 comments Og | Uncategorized
I always ask myself “Would the fighter jock not strap himself into his screaming beast?”
It’s all about pretending to be Yuri Gagarin, man. Strap up.
And another thing:
It’s no big deal if you pull down your imaginary visor, strap on your imaginary oxygen mask, and say “Con, Red Fox Three. Let’s light this fucking candle.”
Because the only people laughing are your spouse and your kids, and they know you’re a retard anyway. At least, that’s my experience.
yes. He’d use a five point. Which is a LEGITIMATE piece of safety equipment.
I drive a ’70 Ford Econoline with a lap belt only. I can’t count the times I’ve been pulled over for no belt only to have an argument with the ignorant cop, trooper, whatever about me being legally in compliance even though they can’t see the shoulder belt. I finally got a copy of the chapter and verse, scanned it into my hard drive so I can print it. I now simply staple a copy onto the ticket and drop ’em into the night mail slot at my local court house. They quietly go away. I’ve tried showing it to sundry minions of the law, but none that I’ve done that with seem to read or understand English.
Maybe if I wrote it on a “Big Chief Tablet” in Purple Crayon…..
Gerry N.
I learned to get used to a seatbelt when I was stationed in Europe. The Autobahn will make you want to wear one. When I finally got home, it was the law here as well, which I didn’t know, but I put it on by habit.
Key word, law.
I disagree with a shitload of em too, but I try my best not to break em.
In example: Murder, Murder, Murder, and Murder.
Can’t tell you how many times I’ve wanted to bust this one within the city limits. Thank God Texas has plenty of open land.
Fucking rulebooks.
“…the creeping incremental bullshit…” has no bounds.
It’s steadily gaining on us…
I’ve not had a seatbelt save my life in a wreck, but they have, on more than one occassion, helped greatly in holding my puckered ass in place behind the wheel while aggressively manuvering.
More than once in my cop days in ye olde cruiser, and at least once in avoiding pileups and such in personal driving.
I agree, a five-point would be tons better, but I’ll settle for what the three point offers.
Jim
Sunk New Dawn
Galveston, TX
Had a friend die because he rolled his car at low speed (less than 20) and fell out of the car. It rolled on him, and he died on the chopper taking him to the trauma unit. As for head on, I tend to agree with you, Og, that the air bags are way better than the seatbelt. Every accident I’ve been on the damn belt hurt me far worse than the accident.
Is it even legally possible to switch out the standard 3-point for a five-point?
Maybe do that AND disable the airbag?
Brings up the question of modifying for safety. Da gummint frowns on it. Strange, ALL the various racing outfits require these mods to make even jalopies suitable for slow-speed dirt track.
In Indiana you cannot install a five point in a passenger vehicle, and in most states you put in a five point you have to ALSO wear a lap/shoulderbelt. Stupid.
What I find most stupid is that all the seatbelt researchy was done in 60’s vehicles which were full of sharp pointy things on the inside.
BreathE Neanderpundit.
It’s only a seat belt. Go along, play nice, and lay out the bait.
When they start telling you how to vote – THEN you can start killing people that need it.
Just think of it as one more lib-tax, Og. I got hit with a $100.00 fine here in FL when the Omar pulled me over for running a stop sign(which I hadn’t done. HE graciously didn’t write the speeding ticket, but di write the failure to wear seat belt. It’s nothing more than a revenue generating tool.
F***’em all with a rusty belt buckle.
Okay, so now, I get in the car and just loop the belt over the left shoulder without buckling it, heh.
Seatbelts really do help in rollovers as said above. I’ve seen a lot of folks come through the ER who got totally or partially ejected and scrunched in rollovers. Pickups seem to be the worst, but I don’t know why. Having said that, I only wear mine when the wife reminds me.
In the ’80s, when TN implemented a seat-belt law, a big deal was made over the fact that it was a secondary violation–they couldn’t pull you over for not wearing one, but could ticket you if, after pulling you over for another violation, they noticed you weren’t wearing one. Only reason it passed was ’cause they could honestly say “No LEO can pull you over for not wearing a belt.”
Guess how long it took ’em to make it a primary violation? Not too damned long.
Gerry, I haven’t had ’em stop my ’72 Cheyenne thinking I wasn’t wearing one, but I’m waiting for it.
You can’t hurt anyone else by not wearing your seat belt. Personally, I would wear one regardless of the law. But it shouldn’t be the gubmit’s business.
I rear-ended someone in 1983, and the seatbelt kept me off the steering wheel and out of the windshield. Before that I was conscientious about using the belt, after that, for a long time, I was “religious”. It took a long time before I could back the car into the garage without buckling up.
But I’m with Jennifer here. It shouldn’t be a law.
Is it really the law to wear one in Germany, or is it merely that you don’t get the benefits of the social medicine services if you were unbelted?
Seatbelts are a good thing.
Mandating them by law is not. And they are not going to stop mandating more shit unless we, the people, get rid of these morons in government.
I do not ride without a helmet but I hate have a law forcing me to wear one. Not incidentally, the law allows us to wear a helmet that is legal, but won’t help ‘cuse it’s junk.
I just saw the biggest seatbelt joke of my life last week. Driving down the road, we got stopped at a traffic light. My wife said, “what kind of car is that?” and pointed over into the next lane. I said, “It’s a very old Land Rover.” And it was…sans top…no roll bar…and the guy had a shoulder belt that attached to the back of the seat, went over his shoulder, came back down, and (presumably) attached near the lap belt.
Here was clearly a case of “You want a f*cking shoulder belt, here’s your f*cking shoulder belt.” Because that thing wasn’t going to do shit for him in an accident.
If you have air bags in the steering wheel you really should wear a seat belt. If there is a front-on crash the recoil from the air bag will knock seven shades of something out of your head. If not damaging your upper spine.
And on late night patrols I have seen too many car crashes to not see how seat belts help. You don’t get to ride in my car without one.
Yep, jumble. All those accidents were caused by failure to wear a seatbelt. Hint: you missed the point.
It’s all about the Revenue, Og. I once had a beef with a State Trooper (don’t ask) so I decided to call and complain about the bastard. Where did I find the phone number to call the main State Trooper office you may ask? In the blue pages under “Department of Revenue”.
All was made clear at that very instant.