Boat seat belts

[DandyDon]

I won't ride a taxi or van without belts, or any other motor vehicle without. It'd be nice if boats were as safety prepared but old school is hard to fight.

This was posted in the Texas forum yesterday: http://www.scubaboard.com/forums/texas-swamp-divers/363452-wear-those-seatbelts.html

Had an interesting morning today. Had a guy hit me on 635 at approx 70 mph, which caused my suv to flip approx 5-6 times on the exit ramp and into a ditch. I always get onto family and friends that don't wear them, well he is another reason to. I have no doubt in my mind had I not been wearing it, I would have either been dead or still in the hospital. Luckily I always do wear it and only had some minor cuts and soreness.

 

[Paladin]

If the boat capsizes and you have been knocked unconscious then you're not going to get out anyway. But you're far more likely to have been knocked unconscious if you are not wearing a belt. Other that the specious issue of "civil liberty" I can't think of any real-world reason for not wearing one.

The "issue" of civil liberty is by no means "specious." I do not need, or want, to live under Nanny State rule. How I live my life, and the risks I am willing accept, is my right and my choice. Period.

In many cases, strapping oneself down while traveling by boat is simply not practical. Perhaps for short runs in a small runabout or speedboat in rough/crowded waters, but not in anything larger going any distance.

 

[ONESPEED]

If the boat capsizes and you have been knocked unconscious then you're not going to get out anyway. But you're far more likely to have been knocked unconscious if you are not wearing a belt. Other that the specious issue of "civil liberty" I can't think of any real-world reason for not wearing one.

With boats, different layouts and configurations make belts a bit problematic, while I'm not calling them a bad idea, they may be a better idea in some boats than others and the likelihood of being trapped is much more of a significant issue than it is in cars as the auto industry has done extensive research simply not likely in the marine industry.

As for the pinheads, and I have no issue calling them this, adverse to wearing seatbelts in a car, I spent many years as an insurance adjuster specializing in auto and heavy equipment claims, I never personally handled a claim where someone wearing a seatbelt was killed, yeah, it happens but seatbelts do save lives....FREQUENTLY. If you're too stupid to wear one because of the popular arguments that it's either uncomfortable (really????) or you may be trapped, I say this, what's more uncomfortable, having glass picked from your head or wearing a seatbelt? In addition, those of us smart enough to wear a seatbelt would appreciate it if, when we need medical assistance it's available, and not wasting their time with some dumbass not intelligent enough to wear a seatbelt.

 

[Paladin]

The one accident that I was in, if I had been wearing a seatbelt, I would have died. Being free to move away from a truck about to T-bone me in my driver's door saved my life. Over the years, I have seen people die because of seatbelts. A young woman in Beaver burned to death after what should have been a minor accident because her car caught fire and her seatbelt buckle was jammed; a teenager whose sternum was crushed by his shoulder strap (the ER physician told me he'd seen that type of injury several times and called it "maximum crunch"); a man who drowned when his car plunged into the river and he couldn't get his seatbelt unfastened (I helped in the recovery); an elderly woman who bled to death when her shoulder strap sliced her neck open; a truck driver trapped in his rig when it went of in a ball of fire (he died screaming for one of the cops at the scene to shoot him) and several others.

Though she was not in a car, I saw one of my old flight instructors die in a Cessna 150 after crashing into the side of a mountain (engine failure) near the airport. Both she and her student lived through the crash with minor injuries. The student was not wearing his seatbelt and was able to climb out of the wreckage. The instructor was not so lucky. Her seatbelt jammed and she could not get out. Several people from the airport ran to the wreck but no one had a knife. Before a knife could be obtained, fuel from a wing tank hit the engine and the plane went up in flames. I will never forget her screams.

My uncle was thrown from his car when it was hit by another vehicle. His car then went over a steep hillside without him. The state trooper who investigated the accident told him that if he'd stayed with the car, he would not have survived.

I am reminded of the scene in Jaws where Quint says he'll never wear a life jacket again and I can empathize.

You can call me a "pinhead" or a "dumbass" all you want and it will make absolutely no difference. I will not wear a seatbelt. This is my choice.

 

[ONESPEED]

The one accident that I was in, if I had been wearing a seatbelt, I would have died. Being free to move away from a truck about to T-bone me in my driver's door saved my life. Over the years, I have seen people die because of seatbelts. A young woman in Beaver burned to death after what should have been a minor accident because her car caught fire and her seatbelt buckle was jammed; a teenager whose sternum was crushed by his shoulder strap (the ER physician told me he'd seen that type of injury several times and called it "maximum crunch"); a man who drowned when his car plunged into the river and he couldn't get his seatbelt unfastened (I helped in the recovery); an elderly woman who bled to death when her shoulder strap sliced her neck open; a truck driver trapped in his rig when it went of in a ball of fire (he died screaming for one of the cops at the scene to shoot him) and several others.

Though she was not in a car, I saw one of my old flight instructors die in a Cessna 150 after crashing into the side of a mountain (engine failure) near the airport. Both she and her student lived through the crash with minor injuries. The student was not wearing his seatbelt and was able to climb out of the wreckage. The instructor was not so lucky. Her seatbelt jammed and she could not get out. Several people from the airport ran to the wreck but no one had a knife. Before a knife could be obtained, fuel from a wing tank hit the engine and the plane went up in flames. I will never forget her screams.

My uncle was thrown from his car when it was hit by another vehicle. His car then went over a steep hillside without him. The state trooper who investigated the accident told him that if he'd stayed with the car, he would not have survived.

I am reminded of the scene in Jaws where Quint says he'll never wear a life jacket again and I can empathize.

You can call me a "pinhead" or a "dumbass" all you want and it will make absolutely no difference. I will not wear a seatbelt. This is my choice.

Reading this only makes me wonder exactly how many dashboards you have bounced your cranium off of. Denouncing seatbelts and claiming them more dangerous than not wearing them is laughable at best, odd that virtually everyone you know is alive because they chose not to wear a seatbelt, I cry BS.

:bs:

 

[Tanked]

For those of us who work in the Trauma industry, I'd like to thank people who don't wear seat belts for keeping us employed.

 

[Tanked]

; a teenager whose sternum was crushed by his shoulder strap (the ER physician told me he'd seen that type of injury several times and called it "maximum crunch") an elderly woman who bled to death when her shoulder strap sliced her neck open

:bs:.

 

[ONESPEED]

:bs:.

+1, making ridiculous stories up to convince people to not wear seatbelts is a special kind of stupid, IJS.

 

[peterbj7]

The "issue" of civil liberty is by no means "specious." I do not need, or want, to live under Nanny State rule. How I live my life, and the risks I am willing accept, is my right and my choice

Your right indeed, so long as you are willing to accept that emergency services may give you lower priority than those who did follow the rules (fact, at least here in the UK), that your insurance company may decline to pay you in respect of your injuries (fact on both sides of the Atlantic), that you may be subject to prosecution (throughout Europe and in at least many US states), and that anybody you injure as you flail around unsecured will have an absolute right of damages against you (again, fact throughout Europe and probably in at least part of the States).

As to being "thrown clear", this was debunked years ago. There may be the odd instance where being thrown out may reduce injuries, but in the vast majority of cases the injuries sustained by people "thrown clear" are far worse than by those who were restrained.

As to seat belt mechanisms jamming, these days (again, at any rate in Europe) their design and quality is imposed by highly researched law. Assuming a belt is correctly installed, correctly used by an individual, and correctly adjusted, there should be little reason why a belt buckle should ever jam.

 

[Paladin]

I was the driver of the ambulance that took the teenager to the hospital. I heard him trying to breathe and the gurgling in his chest. Call it B.S. if you want to. That doesn't change the facts.