jimd@hp-pcd.UUCP (06/27/84)
I have an opinion about seat belts and drunks too. When I was going to college, I worked as a night watchman for a small security firm. My job was to drive a varying route from one site to another, checking doors and gates. *Boring* On a typical night, I drove about 165 mostly-city miles, usually Friday, Saturday, and Sunday nights. Needless to say, I learned to dodge drunks. Over the four years that I had this job, I either witnessed or came upon approximatly 15 fatal traffic collisions. Of these, only two did NOT involve drunk drivers. Of these, about half the victims were under age 21. None of the victims were wearing seat belts. None of the cars caught fire, even the Pintos. Only two of the accidents involved a car moving over 35 miles per hour. In one accident, my partner watched a woman open the door of her BMW and step out unharmed after being rear ended by another car moving at about 45 miles per hour. She had been wearing seat belts. The driver of the Mercedes that hit her was killed instantly. That person was not wearing seat belts. Strange, huh? The strangest was a Ford Torino that broadsided a Honda Civic at about 15mph, killing the Honda driver. As you might guess, the Ford wasn't scratched. Some people claim that seat belts serve only to keep the body in the car. It helps. A couple of the above mentioned fatalities occurred when the person was run over after being thrown out of their car. Had they been strapped in, they would likely be alive today. When cars collide, all sorts of crazy things occur. Cars distort, break, and the pieces bounce like billiard balls. Strangely, fires are quite rare. Let me give you another example. I watched a 65 Ford Mustang moving at about 50 mph collide head on with a fire truck moving at 20 mph (the truck was accelerating after turning a corner.) The Mustang was driven by a 16 year old girl who was legally drunk, according to the blood test. The blood alcohol level was twice the legal limit. The fire truck, by the time it got stopped, had pushed the Mustang 35 feet BACKWARDS from the point of collision. The hose nozzle of the truck was in the back seat of the Mustang. It took five firemen, myself, and my partner 15 minutes to carve away enough Ford to start getting bodies out. The driver was in the back seat, dead. The passenger that had been in the back seat was in the drivers area, alive. The passenger in the right front seat was under the fire truck, alive, but missing a couple of legs. The terrible thing was, it was 3 minutes AFTER we had the one survivor out of the car before we learned that there were three people in the Ford. We later lost that one. No one had been wearing seat belts, including one fireman with a bruised forehead. If the person we found under the fire truck had been wearing a seat belt, she might be alive today. There was plenty of room to remain in that part of the car, even though the door had popped off. I know this because that's where I saw a 190 pound fireman sitting while we were removing one of the bodies. A shoulder belt would have saved a life. The passenger in the back seat might not be paralyzed from the waist down if she had remained in the back seat. Docters said that if she had been sober, the injuries would have been worse (drunks flop easier). Due to the angle of the collision, seat belts, air bags, and armour plating could not have saved the driver. 55 mph limit? Fine by me. 21 years old to drink is standard in Oregon. Fine by me. Stiffer fines for drunk drivers? Fine by me. Mandatory seat belt laws? I wear 'em anyway. That's going to be rather controversial, I think. Fine by me. Don't talk to me about inconvenience. I put 'em on about 60 times a night on that job. I've never had an accident in a car. Yet. So far so lucky. I think of seat belts as loading the dice in my favor. I know it sounds like an old saw, but if you feel you are too good to wear seat belts, or you can drive when you're drunk, my partner is still working on the same job. He's had some practice at notifying next of kin, as have I. I'm sure he'll be quite gentlemanly about it. Buckle up sober! Jim Donnelly hplabs!hp-pcd!jimd
res@ihuxn.UUCP (Rich Strebendt) (06/29/84)
> 55 mph limit? Fine by me. > > 21 years old to drink is standard in Oregon. Fine by me. > > Stiffer fines for drunk drivers? Fine by me. > > Mandatory seat belt laws? I wear 'em anyway. ... Fine by me. > > I know it sounds like an old saw, but if you feel you are too good to wear > seat belts, or you can drive when you're drunk, my partner is still working > on the same job. He's had some practice at notifying next of kin, as have I. > I'm sure he'll be quite gentlemanly about it. > > Buckle up sober! > > > Jim Donnelly > hplabs!hp-pcd!jimd WELL PUT! Rich Strebendt ... !ihnp4!ihuxn!res
hrs@houxb.UUCP (H.SILBIGER) (07/02/84)
I installed seat belts in a car for the first time in 1956. This was beor they were even an option. It took until 1983 before they fulfilld their function. At that tim they kept me from getting even a scratch when $1400 damage was caused to my car. Herman Silbiger PS I always made my children wear them also, and just refused to drive off if they weren't buckled in. Now, in their own cars, they always wear them also, and say they don't feel secure without them.