Wear Your Seatbelt

[MJE2083]

When I was a kid and into my early 20's I never wore a seat belt. Sadly it was learned behavior as my parents never wore seat belts. My father is actually a retired LEO and he still refuses to wear a seat belt. He actually goes as far as to disable the seat belt in most of his vehicles in one way or another. He had an old Dodge truck with a bench seat and he would actually fold the back of the seat forwards so that he could stuff the buckles down behind the seat and "out of his way". In his current vehicles he actually went as far as to get a spare buckle(the male end) from a junk yard so he clips that into the buckle to stop the car from beeping. Believe it or not he actually lost a brother at a young age in an auto accident also and I believe that the lack of seat belt was a factor.

Luckily for me I must not be anywhere near as hard-headed as the old man. About 8 years ago I herniated a disc in my lower back. I was in such severe pain that I started wearing my seat belt out of fear that I might be crippled if I were to have even a minor accident. I just got in the habit of doing it and I don't intend to stop.

I also had a friend die at 19 because he wasn't wearing a seat belt and was driving stupid(as teenagers where I'm from sadly tended to do). Another friend of mine came upon the accident minutes afterwards and described the scene to me years later. Our friend had been ejected from the car and was still breathing despite the back of his skull having been torn off. Sorry to be too graphic, but that's the reality of what can happen.

 

[MJE2083]

Man sorry you had to see that NR. Seatbelts and helmets are a black and white policy for me and my family. Still SMH that we don't have helmet laws for motorcyclists and bicyclists.

Not sure of the situation in Montana, but a few years ago in PA they actually changed the law to allow motorcycle riders to drive without a helmet(they previously had been required). There must have been one hell of a biker lobby to get that kind of law passed. I'm not certain about this, but I've heard whispers recently that motorcycle fatalities have risen since this took effect and there has been talk of reinstating the helmet law.

 

[esracerx]

I used to race stock cars before life stuff got in the way. For any Nascar fans out there I was passing David Ragan (he flew in for a big race while he was in the truck series) He hit the wall and hit me. I broke a small bone in my right wrist, from having the steering wheel jerk so hard from the hit. Had a cast from my fingertips to my bicep for 4 months. Still won some big races despite racing with one arm. Trying to shift was a chore. Out of 300 in my division in the nation I was ranked 5th. A lot of the guys that are in Nascar now are guys that I used to race against when I'd go to these national races. I was in Memphis one year and I saw the guys ahead of me touch tires. When that happens the faster guy is almost always going to flip. Thats what happened. I have a picture somewhere where it looks like I'm driving under the guy as he's 15 feet in the air. Another time I was starting 3rd. The guy on my outside drove into my right front. Somehow that broke a tie rod...Now I''m going straight at about 95 into the wall....broken tie rod also took out a brake line. Multiple people said after they never saw one of those cars hit so hard. I was fine.

It doesn't matter how far I go. I could just be driving a few hundred feet on my own property. Its a habit I developed from racing that the seat belt is on before the truck starts. Also, racing has made me a better driver. I can control a vehicle better than I would have otherwise. Long wheelbase truck in the snow is kinda fun...but I know when it's too dangerous to be fun. Its a fine line between fun and reckless. I'm usually looking 2 cars ahead no matter where or when, and if/when something happens I've learned that a lot of times simply hitting the brakes won't avoid a collision. When you lock the brakes up, you lose your steering. Going around is far more likely to avoid a collision.