Seat Belt Law

[Anonymous]

Just curious on how everyone feels about the seat belt law, Primary or Secondary??

[Anonymous]

Primary. It saves lives! Great question.

[Anonymous]

Too much Goverment, SECONDARY!

[Anonymous]

Too much goverment. Please explain. I dont understand why people say that. I can stop you if your kid is not wearing one, but you as an adult i cant. Whats the difference. Wearing a seat belt saves lives. If you dont like wearing one, than dont. But when you die who is going to explain it to your family that if you wore one you would still be here. Dont be selfish. You wont be here to watch your family cry and be upset about it, or even be the one telling them that they lost a loved one. Car crashes are not an excepted form of death, its preventable. Just think about it, your 18 year old kid drives by a cop not wearing his seat belt. the cop watches, but cant stop him. Then he dies in a crash. Or your 18 year old kid drives by a cop not wearing a seat belt, gets pulled over, worst things is he gets a $25 dollar ticket. He drives away mad, but wearing his seat belt gets in a wreck and survives. Which one do you want to chose? Life or Death?
Too much goverment, come on.

[Anonymous]

It is very easy to explain, there has never been a conclusive study that proved that wearing a seatbelt saves lives. If you recall the reason we have the current seat belt law is because insurance companies promised to lower our premiums if the goverment regulated it. It is no surprise that it didn't happen! :x Now, let me be the first to tell you that I DO wear a seat belt, it makes me FEEL safe and that's fine for me BUT I shouldn't be forced to wear one because of some Corporate deal or some "study". It is a matter of choice! Besides all of that, from your posting it appears you are a Law Enforcement Officer, do you really have the time to look for those types of violations? From what I have read in these forums, you folks are swamped with other matters of importance!

[Anonymous]

Good point Kermit,
But if i see something illegal going on, i do something about it.

[Anonymous]

Too much goverment. Please explain. I dont understand why people say that. I can stop you if your kid is not wearing one, but you as an adult i cant. Whats the difference. Wearing a seat belt saves lives. If you dont like wearing one, than dont. But when you die who is going to explain it to your family that if you wore one you would still be here. Dont be selfish. You wont be here to watch your family cry and be upset about it, or even be the one telling them that they lost a loved one. Car crashes are not an excepted form of death, its preventable. Just think about it, your 18 year old kid drives by a cop not wearing his seat belt. the cop watches, but cant stop him. Then he dies in a crash. Or your 18 year old kid drives by a cop not wearing a seat belt, gets pulled over, worst things is he gets a $25 dollar ticket. He drives away mad, but wearing his seat belt gets in a wreck and survives. Which one do you want to chose? Life or Death?


Replace seat belt with cigarettes.

[Anonymous]

the question wasnt cigaretts, it was seat belts.

[Anonymous]

joelh, my intent wasn't to question your ethics but just to point out that you have other things to do that would make a much bigger impact on the community. :)

[Anonymous]

I know kermit, i got your point. No offense taken. Not wearing your seat belt is already against the law, why not make it primary. whats the difference. Thats what i dont understand..

[Spud]

I know kermit, i got your point. No offense taken. Not wearing your seat belt is already against the law, why not make it primary. whats the difference. Thats what i dont understand..

Because the cretins in the legislature do not care about savings lives. That drivel about "no studies to prove seat belts save lives" is bull. Anybody familiar with emergency services will regale you with stories of the accidents where the guy with the belt on lived and the other occupant with out the belt died.

[Anonymous]

The people in the EMS/FIRE SERVICE can also tell you wrecks they have been on where if the person wasn't wearing a seatbelt they would have lived. I wear my seatbelt every time I get in a vehicle but I belive it should be choice not because the law says you have to. You have just as many wrecks where the seatbelt saves lives and the seatbelt takes lives. :yawinkle:

[Anonymous]

AMEN!!!

[Anonymous]

That's the problem people think that they have the right to choose. Well you have the right to choose whether or not you break the speed limit, run stop signs and every other law in the book. YOU DO NOT HAVE A CHOICE, YOU MUST USE YOUR SEATBELT IT IS ALREADY A LAW. These are the same people that think they have the right to drive in the first place. You don't, its not a right its a priviledge. Besides I dont need a primary seatbelt law to stop you for not wearing one, Im sure I can find another reason to stop you if i really wanted to. The way I look at, right now you get two tickets, one for speeding, running stop signs or whatever you did to get pulled plus the seatbelt ticket. I guess I take the seatbelt law a bit more serious than most people. After 15 years and the unknown amount of preventable deaths I have seen on the roadway you would feel the same. Most of these collisions were low speed (less than 45) single car crashes with ejections. But you guys are right, seatbelts don't save lives, and it's such a invasion of your privacy. It's just a matter of time before I walk up to your door and tell your wife and your children that daddy won't be home because he lost control of his suv going 40 mph, flipped it and was thrown from it. I wonder how long it will take your family to get over that......

[Anonymous]

Well that was very dramatic and gut wrenching, however the point was missed. Laws are designed to protect us from others, not from ourselves. To deny our ability to make choices about simple issues invites others to come in and "dictate" our lives. I do not wish this nor should you since you uphold the Constitution as a Law Enforcement Officer. I wear a seatblet because I wish too, not because it is mandated and that's what makes us free!

[Anonymous]

if 52 % of people died because they did not wear their seatbelt---that means 48 % died while wearing their seat belts---- the latest from the u.s government files! sound like a 50 --- 50 split. has anyone looked at how many lower back, chest, rib, and hip injuries are caused by wearing what we call seat belts. check wiyh the insurance ind. to see how many more claims have been filed for those types of injuries.

[Anonymous]

Oh yeah like the insurance industry is fool proof! Ever hear of insurance fraud! How many of those 52% that you mentioned would have lived if they had been seatbelted in?

[lexcofirefighterslady]

It's cops like you "JakesLaw" that make citizens hate cops or think bad of them. Most cops that I know are so arrogant and act as if because they are a cop that they can do ANYTHING they wish and make the citizens like it. I agree with a cop pulling you for legit reasons but just to make his quota is wrong and then sticking a seatbelt ticket on top of everything else just makes it worse.
Why does the law want to CONTROL people? It should be your choice to wear or not wear seatbelts after you are 18 years of age.
As I said before I wear my seatbelt EVERYTIME I get in my vehicle and I have programmed it in my children's heads also to wear their seatbelt everytime they go somewhere, no matter if it is just 1/2 a mile.
We have good cops and we have ARROGANT cops and I think you are one of the ARROGANT ONES!

[ConcernedMom]

I, too believe it should be one's choice whether to wear a seat belt or not. I choose to wear mine every time I ride in any vehicle. However, I don't believe the question should be whether a cop can stop you or ticket you for not wearing one. If it is a law then the police should be allowed to enforce that law - period. If you don't believe it should be a law, then you should lobby your legislator to have it taken off the books. I believe our police have enough to worry about while trying to safely perform their duties without worrying about being sued because they wrote somebody a ticket for failing to wear a seat belt.

[Anonymous]

In my time with emergency services (over 10 years) there has never been a time where I ran a wreck where somebody lived because they were not wearing their seatbelt. Seatbelts save lives.

That said, I am against primary enforcement of the seat belt law....mainly because the only person you are going to physically harm is yourself. If the primary justification behind this law is to save someone's life....then why not pass a law banning cheeseburgers, because if you eat too many of them they'll kill you as well.

[Anonymous]

dude, you obviously havent ran to many wrecks, ok you have been in emergency services for over 10 years where at a station that runs a 5-m.p.h fender bender and yells for 5 thousand pieces of apparatus just because the door is jammed up ???? come on guy...... been here 15+ years and i have seen a many of call where a seat belt has caused a fatality, however, i still wear my seatbelt regardless of the situation if God says its your time to go, there is nothing a piece of nylon rope is gonna do for you.....Stay in the metro kid, never make it out here

[Anonymous]

Seat belts may save a life in some cases. The fact of the matter is, when a seat belt saves a life it turns them into a vegetable. When the force and impact of a vehicle hits an oncoming object or wraps around a tree or a post it is only a blessing from the Father that saves you.

[Anonymous]

You Go Moe-Joe

[Anonymous]

Hey mo-joe,

let's see some stats to back that claim up! I have been in several collisions in my life and all were while I was seatbelted, and I suffered no permanent injuries or damages....From the seatbelt or the collision. In fact very few permanent injuries are caused by a seatbelt, especially where it is worn correctly. If you check you will find that alot of those injuries you attribute to seatbelts, are caused by improper wear or from some form of modification to the restraint itself.

So check on that and let us know what you find out!

[Anonymous]

OK Guest.

The stats are: you have been in several collisions in your life, while you were seat belted. You suffered no permanent injuries because most of them were your fault, and you were too dumb to see. You can’t drive. You are stupid or something. Get off the road. Go take a drivers defensive course and quit being an offensive driver. You are the worst looser I have ever met. I am glad you are not the poster boy for the driver's safety. YOU IDIOT.

[Anonymous]

Well jakes law might be arrogant, but the most important point he made was that not wearing your seat belt is already against the law. There is no choice in the matter. I dont know where that came in, The legislation is not trying to pass a seat belt law, they are trying pass a law to make it a primary reason for a traffic stop. Again it is already illegal to not wear youre seat belt. There is no choice in the matter.

[Anonymous]

Not wearing your seatbelt is already against the LAW...

[Anonymous]

There is a simple answer to the seat belt debate. Write-in Dr. James R. Metts to be our next Coroner on June 8th! That's right, with James R. Metts as our Coroner this problem will simply evaporate! For a smart guy like Dr. Metts, this problem will be a "snap." Don't delay. Write-in Dr. Metts as soon as you can. There is a write-in initiative for him in Charleston and we want to get him first! Your vote counts!

[Anonymous]

WELL MO-JOE-DON'T-KNOW, You are wrong again, as usual! I have only been found at fault in one of those collisions. But I see that your best arguement in favor of your comments is......"I know you are but what am I". How adult of you! Well I guess that we should expect that type of response from you after reading all your other "BRILLIANT" postings on this site! Well why don't you just take your ball and go home, I think I hear mama "DON'T-KNOW" CALLING! Oh, by the way still waiting for those stats! On second thought don't worry about it, after all anything you say can't be trusted as being the truth anyway and I would hate for you to hurt that tiny nugget you call a brain while trying to make some up!
See Ya!

[Anonymous]

What is your real name? I'm assuming the Joel H is for Huggins. Do you think Joel would be as stupid as to post some of the crap you have? As Professional Standards, I know he would have more common sense and see how detrimental these posts would be to his job.

If this is "really" you....what were you thinking?

[Anonymous]

Wife of 5-0, wake up. I assume that your real name is not "wife of 5-0" Well you think about it, maybe i am, maybe i am not joel huggins. assume what you want...Also get to the real issue of this string and that was the seat belt law...

[Anonymous]

Show me one collision where a seatbelt is directly responsible for the person's death. Don't make up some what if scenario, give me a solid example that you have seen personally. Especially the poster who has seen "many a wreck" where people died because they were seatbelted.

Citizen's have this wrong impression that it is their "right" to drive on our roadways. It is a privilege based upon many regulations imposed by the State.

Just like Six Flags "requires" you to wear safety devices when riding any of THEIR rides, states have the same interest to require you to wear safety devices when operating a vehicle on THEIR roadways.

[Anonymous]

(Fairfield) - One person is dead after a one-car accident in Fairfield County.

The accident happened just before 3:00 Thursday afternoon on Interstate 77. According to the state Highway Patrol, the 24-year-old female driver of the car lost control and it flipped several times.

The driver was not wearing a seatbelt and was pronounced dead on the scene. A passenger in the car was taking to Palmetto Richland with minor injuries.

The Fairfield County Coroner says he's not releasing the name of the victim until the next-of-kin has been notified.

Ok here it is just a guess but I would bet the house that the passenger was wearing a seatbelt. This is on the wltx web site.

[Anonymous]

Fatal Crashes 2004 355 Persons Killed 2004 389
Fatal Crashes 2003 317 Persons Killed 2003 343
Difference 2004 vs. 2003 38 Differences 2004 vs. 2003 46



Total Fatalities: (includes passengers, pedestrians, cyclists, etc.) 389

Number of Fatalities with Access to Seat Belts (passengers inside cars, trucks and vans) 329

Number of Passengers NOT wearing Seat Belts 257