kis (08/20/82)
SAFETY BEGINS WITH ONE'S OWN VEHICLE. I sympathize with GREG (!woods..) who would like to insist on seat-belt use for his passengers for insurance reasons. I don't buy excuses from ANY passenger for not wearing them in MY car. These are my arguments: 1) I generally care about the people that ride with me, and wish them to have the best statistical odds of surviving an accident. 2) The 'semi-compliment', that they believe that I'M a safe driver does not have any bearing on accidents that OTHERS may cause. 3) Passengers who ride in the front seat, are liable to go through the windshield, a good excuse to wear a lap belt. Hitting one's face on a steering wheel is great for the plastic surgeon and dentist business, a good reason to wear a shoulder restraint. People are overwhelmingly safer being restrained with seat belts, than 'jumping to safety'. 4) People in the back seat become projectiles in an accident. This is not too good for them, but it is worse for the people in front. (This is a purely selfish reason, since I'm usually in front). Medium sized back seat passengers are also prone to windshield encounters. I regret being forceful to polite company, but it only takes the witnessing of a few 'good' accidents to convince even the most foolish. Bodies are tortured in the most remarkable ways, events that could be lessened or avoided with seat belts. It seems almost inconcievable that people will still not wear their belts. I will spare you the tales of horror, of which there are more than I care to recall. Karen Schroeder Philips Laboratories (floyd!philabs!kis) and Peekskill Volunteer Ambulance Corps.