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BGonline.org Forums
My Thoughts on this Rule
Posted By: Coolrey In Response To: My Thoughts on this Rule (Stick)
Date: Saturday, 11 April 2009, at 3:57 p.m.
Stick: I personally am 100% fine with someone not wearing their seatbelt. This doesn't endanger anyone but the person in question. I've always been ok with someone committing suicide though as long as they do it in a responsible manner that won't physically harm anyone else. I don't like being told what to do or not do when the only person it affects is me.
Ray: This makes sense as far as it goes. But did you know that not wearing your seatbelt may actually cause the accident? I could make a California example... but you live in Ohio. Say you are taking MCG to the next tournament, and a deer walks out on the highway. I saw several dead deer on the side of the road when I drove through CO to visit my wife one time. You are not drinking, and you are alert and you swerve to avoid the deer. Cuz you decided that was the best course of action sometime ago when you heard that deer sometimes come thru the windshield and kill drivers or passengers.
You manage to miss the deer, but when you try to steer around it the sudden maneuver has made your weight shift in the seat and now you are hanging on to the steering wheel for balance as well as steering. If you had your seat belt on, then... uhhhhhh, you would not be pushed out of your seat by centrifugal or any other kind of force... and you would maintain better control of that vehicle.
In this case, leaning against the driver door and hanging on you overcorrect and lose control. In CA it is usually that one wheel gets off the long straight highway and then the startled, maybe he was dozing, driver overcorrects leading to the same result.
MCG, who idolizes you for your swashbuckling backgammon exploits and devil may care outlook on life, decided not to put on his seat belt because his hero didn't, and he didn't want to look like a pussy. We may not know what when throgh his mind as he flew out of the passneger side window... or what it felt like when the muffler landed on his face pinning him beneath your car. {{Yes, I have been on two wrecks like this}} His answer would have been "muffled" anyway if we were to ask him what his opinion of seatbelts was now, and maybe this is better anyway because he might be busy screaming. If he is lucky he got knocked out first.
We may not know what went through his mind, but we have an educated guess what will be going through yours as you sit there, unhurt, beside the vehicle which is now busy extinguishing your loyal follower's life. Ok?
You may well trust your good skillfull driver friend at 80, but tires are not designed for speeds above 85 unless they are Z rated. Blowouts and other accidents happen at speed, do you trust him then?
I have looked at the incredulous faces of those people passing me on the Grapevine, (a notorious pass connecting northern and southern CA), as they PASS the fire engine going code 3 to some unknown assignment... Probably a car fire, but maybe a landslide blocking all lanes with associated 30 car pileup... I often wonder what selection pass on the right was on the DMV test they took?
I personally am NOT 100% fine with someone not wearing their seatbelt. When they roll they may cause another accident, too.
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