I have always hated seat belts and if it were not mandatory to have to put one on now, I would never wear one. Oh, I can hear the outcries of my children and all the rest of you now. It has been proven that they keep you safe, that they save lives, that they are so crucial to your well-being that it is against the law not to wear one.
What they don’t tell you is that if they don’t choke you to death they surely do a good job of trying. Like all us older Americans, I drive a big ole Buick Le Sabre. Have you ever noticed that a young person wouldn’t be caught dead driving one? Buicks are noted for having safety belts that go around a person’s body so that they practically strangle one. My neighbor told me that the other day when I was discussing this with him. Other brands do not go around like that so do not pose such a problem...
Have you ever tried to reach for a Kleenex in your pocket because you felt a sneeze coming on? If you have you can just forgidaboudit. You can’t get into your pocket because of the strap. Have you ever tried to get your mail out of the mailbox from your car in inclement weather? Forgidaboudit! You can’t move enough to reach it. Do you have an itch somewhere that is driving you nuts. You can’t move enough to reach it so forgidaboudit. And God forbid that you should drop your sunglasses on the floor or that they should slide far forward on the shelf under the windshield---you can’t do anything about it.
Yes, I have just read the Michigan State Police Report on the effectiveness of seatbelts and how they have cut down on the death rate from accidents. They don’t tell you about the one that didn’t wear a seatbelt and was the only one to survive because he was thrown free from the car while the others died hanging upside down with their seatbelts still secure and the rescue squads unable to cut them free.
I know that by now you all think I am nuts and senile. I am neither. I just don’t like seatbelts and I have a right to dislike them all I want, but I will wear them simply because I have to and statistics don’t lie. I think they are a simply a pain in the butt .
14 comments:
Oh now, now, we do lots of things because they are good for us; yes, incovenient and exasperating, but seat belts can't help holding us back for our own good.
Bernie, I feel the same way about pills. I hate them. They are incovenient and with side effects. What are my options? Put up with a few inconveniences and live safer and longer.
(word verification: carpoler)
Bernie, I had such a hard time adjusting to seat belts when it became mandatory to wear them, to me they were such a nuisance and took away my freedom of enjoying the space in the car during a drive. Now I don't even notice it, I have grown so use to to putting it on. It is the first thing I do when I get in the car.....I am hoping this new generation will always wear them.
You are absolutely correct you have every right to speak out and say how you feel, I love that you wear one anyway......:-) Hugs
But I still remember the fun we used to have riding in the rumble seat of an old coupe, or on the running boards they used to have on cars. And how often did we hang 3 and 4 out to the pole on the old Kedzie streetcar in Chicago. Wasn't safe, of course, but it sure was exciting at the time! I realize this may be irrelevant but we were free to do what we enjoyed is my point.
I also hate seatbelts,I am an adult and SHOULD be free to make my own chooses about this. The law says I must wear them,the rebel in me says no........the rebel in me won.
Oh Bernie, that was hysterical!
I guess, because I can relate, and I don't drive a Buick. I could picture everything you were saying. :)
Actually, I can still manuever around in the belts fairly well, but it is so cumbersome. In one of our vehicles, the shoulder belt used to scratch my neck. As much as I tried to adjust it, it STILL scratched my neck.
And for some reason,(impatience I guess) I hate taking time to buckle up...pulling the belt up and over. Most of the time, I'm out of my driveway before I buckle up. But, I DO!
Glad you do too!
They are a nuisance, but it's just second nature with me down. I buckle without even thinking about it. My 18 yr.old granddaughter's life was saved becase she was wearing hers!
Once kids out here rode in the back of Utes, part of the life of a kid but no more.I wear one, believe the statistics but there are always exceptions, just as there all to all rules and laws, places they don't fit.
By the way the kangaroos on my top paddock wouldn't dream of wearing a seat belt.
I don't think I've experienced the Buick LeSabre seatbelt syndrome, but there are plenty of other vehicles that land their seatbelts in uncomfortable areas of one's body.
I'm so accustomed to seatbelts now, after having groused and complained about them when wearing them was made mandatory, that I feel all loose and insecure when I'm driving Husband's truck. That seatbelt doesn't work properly, so I drive with it draped over my shoulder so it looks to any passing law enforcement officer as if I'm wearing it.
I'm laughing out loud over here. I've gotten used to wearing seatbelts, but swear every time I try to move and the damned thing locks and won't release.
And I'm old enough to have clear memories of life without belts - riding around in the back of pickup trucks without concern.
This was a great piece, Bernie. You go!
LeSabre seatbelts are TIGHT. Which is odd considering their size and how seatbelts in Hondas are much roomier. Love the vitality in your blog. Retird teachers are some of my favorite people.
Statistics can sometimes be a difficult thing to understand and interpret. Seat belt laws try for a greater common good. When people fly out of cars during accidents their statistical outcome for a "positive" event is less than staying in the vehicle. There will always be rare cases where it would have been better to have been thrown free, but that event just confuses the logic of the Greater Good. But I can understand your frustration at the poor design that encumbers you in a Le Sabre, a car that designers should have known from the beginning was going to be a geriat-omobile.
I have just start reading you and really enjoy you. In the last year I have lost my aunt and father. I miss my regular trips (once every 3 months/ a season) to drive 150 miles one way to see her. I think our chats kept each of us slightly younger and certainly in plenty of giggles as she would tell me stories of the past and I would mainly tell her stories of the present, a connectedness.
"forgidaboudit" Hilarious!
You speak truthfully. I've tried getting the mail and Nope, can't be done unless you unharness yourself.
I was ROTF when I read,
"They don’t tell you about the one that didn’t wear a seatbelt and was the only one to survive because he was thrown free from the car while the others died hanging upside down with their seatbelts still secure and the rescue squads unable to cut them free."
hi! I was very happy to read your comment, the picture was me and my sister!
I love to read what you write, I always come by!
a kiss!
bye
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