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 .
