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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

To wonder who doesn't wear a seat belt and why!

180 replies

FunkyKingston · 02/05/2019 00:01

metro.co.uk/2019/04/30/seat-belt-laws-become-lot-tougher-9357163/

It seems ludicrous to me that not wearing a seat belt doesn't carry at least a three points or even six points when not doing so selfishly and recklesly endangers the lives of others. Thankfully i don't knlw anyone in real life who'd ve as daft to not use the seatbelts fitted.

However, even if they don't give a shit about other people what kind of idiot isn't interested in saving their own skin in the event of a crash, when the effectiveness of seat belts in preventing death and serious injury is beyond doubt?

Does anyone here not use seatbelts or know anyone who is militantly anti seatbelt and what rationale do they use?

OP posts:
ForeverClumsy · 02/05/2019 15:35

This was drilled into me as a child and for that I am grateful. DF would turn and ask if we had them on. If we didn't he would pull over and stop the car until we did. As an adult if I am ever in the back, taxi etc. I always put my seatbelt on.

MyFamilyAndOtherAnimals1 · 02/05/2019 15:36

Also, to add to my post, I do realise that it is important to wear a seatbelt and I probably shouldn't be so flippant.

I recently heard a horror story about a local young driver and his friends who crashed on a country road. The kid who hadn't been wearing his seatbelt came into 'close contact' with a fence post (magically he survived as it missed his major internal organs).

LyingWitchInTheWardrobe2726 · 02/05/2019 15:38

I'm not upset Prequelle, there were other posters who called those who do not wear seatbelts 'stupid' but... what can you say? It's a type that lives to do that.

I'm not shutting down the discussion either, just putting my side. There are lots of threads that make me shudder and I could post on them to make my point (which would be in the minority - the recent Prince William thread, utterly vile and I'm really surprised at some of the posters who were on it spouting bile). I think the thread's goady because it always is. OP's entitled to post it - I'm entitled to rebut what I see as goady and ignorant posting.

Going back to the topic, if you read the article, a quarter of the people who died in accidents weren't wearing seatbelts. So of 100 people who died, 75 were strapped in. If points are going to be given for non-seatbelt wearing then fair enough - just as long as the rubberneckers who cause far more accidents than 'rebounding bodies on the carriageway' do, get whacked with points too. They truly deserve them.

LyingWitchInTheWardrobe2726 · 02/05/2019 15:41

Meant to post that I've said my bit, defended my corner, and I'll leave it there. Thank you for your latest post though Prequelle, it's thought-provoking.

RidgedPerfection · 02/05/2019 15:55

I always wear my seatbelt. I was living overseas years ago in a country where it was not a legal requirement to wear seatbelts. I was a passenger in a vehicle that rolled and was strapped in; the (very large male) driver was not and I ended up fairly seriously injured as he was flung into me.

EnglishRose13 · 02/05/2019 15:57

My mum doesn't always wear one and it drives me mad.

When I was pregnant and she sat behind me in the car, I'd bloody well make her!

azulmariposa · 02/05/2019 16:03

My ex-mil doesn't wear one as it doesn't fit...

FunkyKingston · 02/05/2019 16:43

Not your business. Your personal safety is your business, other people's is not.

I rhink you are being niaive if you cannot see how this impacyd on the safety of others.

OP posts:
f83mx · 02/05/2019 16:46

My nan just holds hers across her lap despite me offering to belt her in.....

ForalltheSaints · 02/05/2019 16:48

A three point penalty for a driver not wearing one is not enough. A three month ban would be a minimum.

Bad habits and farming may be reasons why, but do not make it acceptable.

Not sure how you should penalise passengers though.

MyDcAreMarvel · 02/05/2019 16:50

The “Julie knew her killer” clip always stayed in my mind.
m.youtube.com/watch?v=mKHY69AFstE

magpiecounter · 02/05/2019 19:06

@MyDcAreMarvel I always think about this too

AintNobodyHereButUsReindeer · 03/05/2019 07:52

My husband should have been home from work an hour ago, but he's only just set off. He works night shifts on a very busy road. The reason he's late home today is because he had to go and set up a road closure because someone was driving down this very busy road, hit the central reservation and flew through their windscreen Sad

When you next make a car journey and don't wear your seatbelt, just take a moment to think about the people who will have to peel you off the road, and clean up your blood that's smeared across the tarmac.

LyingWitchInTheWardrobe2726 · 03/05/2019 14:10

Why should we? Perhaps your husband needs a different job? People get 'peeled off the road' when they're run over. What of them? Must they think about your husband and his 'crew' too?

I can't believe anybody would make such a vacuous statement. What about suicides? Should those tormented people have to take other people's views and sensibilities into account also?

I used to really love posting here. I don't much now.

FunkyKingston · 03/05/2019 14:40

Why should we? Perhaps your husband needs a different job? People get 'peeled off the road' when they're run over. What of them? Must they think about your husband and his 'crew' too?

Because we are thinking human beings and because dealing with the aftermath of a fatal accident (howsoever caused) is traumatic for whoever has to deal with it, even if the pp's husband takes your suggestion and finds another job, someone unfortunately has to clean up the aftermath of the fatal accident and unless they're re a psychopath they will be negatively effected by the experience.

I can't believe anybody would make such a vacuous statement. What about suicides? Should those tormented people have to take other people's views and sensibilities into account also?

We are not talking about suicides, we are talking about someone who made a bad decision not to wear a seatbelt and they paid a terrible price for their stupid decision or forgetfulness. A decision that has reverberations that effect a wide range of people from those who witnessed the accident to those who have to attend the scene in a professional capacity as well as family and friends.

Even in the case of a suicide, say be juming in front of a train, it is possible to feel sorry for the person who took their own life and for what the train driver who hit them (some of whom have complete breakdowns after having 'one under' and never return to work) and those who have to deal with the gruesome aftermath.

These things aren't incompatible and sympathy for one party doesn't imply lack of sympathy for the other.

I used to really love posting here. I don't much now.

Wekl if you feel that strongly don't or maybe try engaging in a way that doesn't display such aggression and lack of empathy for others and you might get more productive responses.

OP posts:
TurtleCavalryIsSeriousShit · 03/05/2019 14:56

@Lying my mil was in a serious car accident due to someone else not wearing his seat belt. He lost control of his car and got flung out, straight over the motorway and into the path of oncoming traffic. The cars all swerved to avoid hitting him and crashed into each other.

Ironically, he was the least injured out of every one.

I wear my seat belt because it saved my life and that of my 5 year old son. Head on collision that I couldn't avoid on a mountain pass. Again, other car driving too fast down the pass and losing control.

My son is paralyzed, but alive. I'm classed as 41% disabled, but alive.
Thanks to our seat belts. While in hospital, my husband witnessed another family who was told that they would need to switch the machines off of their 7 year old. He wasn't belted in and went through the windscreen. Mum and dad, both had their belts on though.

I also live in a country that is very lax about it. I see children standing up in the back seat of cars and I want to literally scream at them.

I'm sorry you can't wear one, Lying, but I hope you try to if you are on a motorway. Not just for your sake.

LyingWitchInTheWardrobe2726 · 03/05/2019 15:15

You needn't have bothered replying to me, OP.

===

Turtle, That sounds truly horrific. Honestly, I'm not against the wearing of them - and it is the law in the UK. They DO save lives, no argument there. If your resident country is lax about them then that's a shame, especially for children who need to learn early on to wear them so that it's a habit.

I do wear one, if I have passengers in the car. Every single time.

AintNobodyHereButUsReindeer · 03/05/2019 15:45

You say you're not against wearing them Lying, but in your earlier posts you come across as pretty anti-seatbelt.

Not your business. Your personal safety is your business, other people's is not.

Would you tell that to the above poster, Turtle? If you were the person who flew through the windscreen and caused her MIL to be in that serious accident, and you were the least injured, would you honestly stand there and say "Well your personal safety is not my business, despite the fact I caused an accident by crashing and I was also not wearing my seatbelt causing me to get flung across the road into oncoming traffic on a busy motorway."

JessieMcJessie · 03/05/2019 15:50

I rarely do when in the back of a car. It’s habit from when I was a kid and it wasn’t the norm. Most cars didn’t even have seatbelts in the back when I was growing up.

@CamillafromCobham you say that like it makes you unusual but the same applies to everyone your age and older and we all manage to wear ours. PLEASE PLEASE watch the “Julie Knew her killer” clip posted above and think about how much danger you are exposing those in the front seats to. It’s really not just about you.

Ninkaninus · 03/05/2019 15:52

The Queen doesn’t. And I don’t know why.

(Probably already been said)

I always wear one. I think I forgot once when I was going through a very stressful period in my life.

FunkyKingston · 03/05/2019 16:00

You needn't have bothered replying to me, OP.

I'll respond to whichever comments i chose thank you. You aren't the thread police and you lost the moral high ground with your deeply unpleasant posts earlier in the thread.

OP posts:
IHopeYouUnderstandWeArePuppets · 03/05/2019 16:05

I live in an area where fatal RTCs are sadly frequent. Recently, a car with three passengers, all of whom had no seatbelts on, was involved in a collision with a bus. The passengers were flung from the vehicle and killed. It was a horrifying scene for the bus passengers, members of the public, firefighters and paramedics, all of whom attempted to help. The poor driver, who wore his seatbelt, was fine. Sad

Can’t believe all these responses making excuses. Think of the people who have to witness these accidents, or have to attempt to save you, or clean up what ever is left of you, and your own poor families who would know you died in such an avoidable and graphic way.

Also, my dad has been a farmer for 50 years. And he always wears his seat belt.

MorrisZapp · 03/05/2019 16:12

I had no idea that complaining about seat belts was a thing. MN always shows me opinions I never knew existed!

I was driven once for half an hour on a dual carriageway by a taxi driver with no seat belt on. He said taxi drivers don't have to wear them, then told me about the countless times he's had to argue with passengers about it. He quoted the specific law and laughed, saying 'that always shuts them up'.

As if getting to drive without a seat belt on was some kind of benefit that others would try to take from him, rather than a safety measure that could save his life.

People are bonkers aren't they.

JessieMcJessie · 03/05/2019 16:27

Crazy, isn’t it MorrisZapp? I can only hope he had no wife or children.

Babdoc · 03/05/2019 16:47

When I was a junior doctor, nearly 40 years ago, hardly anyone bothered with seatbelts. And I regularly spent all night in trauma theatre trying to deal with the results for the “lucky” ones who survived to reach hospital.
With no seatbelt, you get flung through the windscreen, shattering it with the force of impact. Then as you rebound back through the shattered glass, you lacerate your head and neck. I often had patients who’d been scalped by their windscreen and lost the sight of an eye to penetrating glass injuries. And as I said, they were the lucky ones. The rest went to the mortuary.
We were all ecstatic when the seat belt law was passed in 1983 - we sometimes got a few hours sleep on call nights.