Do you insist that passengers wear seat belts when you drive?

[Solon]

This is something that I'm always adamant about, and thought it would be a useful poll. I mean, its my car, my rules, basically, not to mention my responsibility as the driver, and is the ONLY thing I'm really uptight about.

[Hong Kong Cavalier]

1. Always. We don't go anywhere if they're not buckled up

I agree with you: my car, my rules.

[Oeditpus Rex]

2. It's sort of moot

I don't tend to have anyone in my truck who needs to be told to fasten their seat belt.

Anyway, in Kollyfornia, it's my truck, the state's rules. And I ain't gettin' fined for someone else's stupidity.

[eyesroll]

3. My two most frequent passengers are a three-year-old and a man who

survived a drunk-driving accident and would be dead if he wasn't wearing his seatbelt. No insistence necessary.

[skygazer]

4. Yes, I do

At this point, there's nobody I have to tell - the only person who rides with me usually is my SO and he's as big on seat belts as I am.

I had a friend back east who never made her kids put on their seat belts - she claimed they "wouldn't keep them on." :banghead:

On the occasions that they rode in MY car, they certainly did - the car did not move until all belts were fastened and if one got unfastened, the car pulled over and stopped until it was done up again.

[billyskank]

5. I would only if they were underage

Then, under UK law, the driver is responsible for them.

But one thing worth considering, if you're in the front and you have a front-end smash, if there is someone sitting behind you without a belt, they can kill you.

[ForrestGump]

6. Yes. Always.

I've been in vans and trucks with no belts, but if it's there, I'm strapping in (by the way, going around corners in some of those vehicles is an exercise in overcoming G-forces so I can stay on my seat...the seatbelt helps stabilize, too).

I also always wear a helmet on a motorcycle -- a real one, a full-faced one, not those ridiculous and utterly useless plastic hats (beanies) that the latter-day Harley crowd mistakenly thinks look more cool -- as well as armored gloves, purpose-designed armored boots, leather jacket (my last two armored) and, in recent years, armored leather pants. Anyone who has bitten the pavement on a bike and, in this age of improved safety gear, still wears the sandals and T-shirt kind of thing is an idiot, plain and simple...poseurs who insist on wearing the same or similarly disastrous (albeit sometimes more comfortable, especially in hot climes) attire can at least be forgiven a fraction of their idiocy by virtue of not yet having demonstrated, first hand, the flesh-eating power of asphalt and the sheer destruction so easily visited by road or incursion of car fender on delicate hands and feet. On the other hand, some things just shouldn't need to be demonstrated to be heeded. I've never been in a car crash, but I always wear my seat belt.

[ForrestGump]

8. Darn...I meant this for the OTHER topic on seat belts

But, yes, I tell passengers to wear seat belts, when I'm driving a car. Rarely have I toted anyone who didn't automatically strap in, anyway.

The legal consideration and liability is the least of it. I'd prefer they didn't hurtle over my shoulder from the back seat -- very distracting.

[Pithlet]

9. I think those beanies look silly.

To me, it makes the rider look like they have a tiny little pinhead.

[ForrestGump]

10. They DO have tiny little pinheads

:-)

You'd have to, to strap on something that'd protect you less effectively than a yarmulke in the event of a mishap.

And think it looks cool. All chromed up, and everything. Hey, baby, check out my beanie...



There's a reason they call 'em brain buckets...useful as a scoop for the road clean-up crew, but that's about it.

[Nicole]

39. About those beanie helmets

I've been told by some friends in Missouri they wear them only because it's against the law to ride without a helmet. So they wear the beanie helmets as that is as close to going helmet less that they can go without being fined. They sure don't think they look cool.

That being said, I never see beanie helmets here. We don't have a helmet law in Oklahoma for adults. So the only ones who wear a helmet are those concerned about safety & they wear full helmets. I wear a full face helmet when I ride. Being hit in the face by a bug going 75 MPH hurts like hell! Being hit in the eye could blind you.

[ZombieNixon]

7. Always. No exceptions.

And you have no idea how hard it is to convince a bunch of 19/20-year-olds to buckle up. x(

[Common Sense Party]

11. 19-20 year-olds are not always known for their...wisdom. nt

[philosophie_en_rose]

12. Absolutely.

I'm not driving for anyone that won't wear a seatbelt. It's not safe for them, or for us. One of my fellow students refused to wear a seatbelt, claiming that he "assumed the risk." I refused to drive, unless he put it on. It's one thing for him to take the chance of dying, it's another thing to put us all at risk from his body flapping around in the car and hurting us.

There's really no reason not to wear a seatbelt. It puts everyone at risk.

[maveric]

13. Always! If I get stopped by the cops and my passenger isnt buckled up...

I get the damn ticket!
But the bottom line is safety. I've had several friends who werent wearing belts and were thrown from the vehicle and killed in MVA's.

[pitohui]

26. really what state is that?

because that sounds like an urban legend to me, altho i could be wrong

i've heard of passengers getting tickets during a sweep but not the driver if the driver was buckled up but it has been years really since i've heard of anyone getting a ticket for this

[uppityperson]

36. many states, WA is one.

Driver is responsible, gets a ticket.

[laheina]

32. I've had three friends that were thrown.

One was killed when one of the cars rolled on him, while his GF was thrown clear--into a barbed wire fence. THe other had a severe, traumatic brain injury that took several years of rehab.

None of those people were wearing safety belts.

[Zing Zing Zingbah]

14. I've never had to..

Everyone that I drive with always buckles up without me every having to ask them first.

[flvegan]

15. Always. Not only for their safety, but for my liability.

[Dangerously Amused]

16. I told my nieces

...from day one that the car knew where people were sitting and couldn't start unless everyone had their seatbelts on. By the time they figured out I was BSing them, they were already firmly entrenched in the seatbelt habit.

[LeftyMom]

17. Yes

If they want to be a dangerous projectile in thier own car, that's fine but nobody gets to risk my life or LeftyKid's in my vehicle. Anybody who has a problem with that can walk.

[Skittles]

18. ALWAYS

I am responsible for their safety; hence, if they won't wear a suitbelt they will not ride with me.

[Robb]

19. Our new Toyota actually beeps at you

It took us a while to figure out, but if there's weight on a passenger seat that doesn't have the seatbelt engaged, it beeps like you've got a door open. :D

[Whoa_Nelly]

20. ALWAYS!

The boyfriend of a friend, (a real Mr. Tough Guy asshole), once refused to buckle up. Said he never wore them, and even started to argue with me. I cut him off mid-rant, and told him in my car he doesn't have the last say, he doesn't get to reserve the right for his body to go flying in my car should there be an accident, even more so into me while I drive, and he needed to know what I ALWAYS told my son...the car won't start unless everyone has their seat belts on because that's how cars work and that's the rule. :rofl:

He made a face, and put on his seat belt.

Yeah, Mr. Tough Guy Asswipe. I am so intimidated. :rofl:
(in fact, I did laugh, and said, "All right! Everyone's buckled in and I can actually start the car! Who'd a-thunk it???"

[wellstone dem]

21. I presume this in in response to the 3 Minn. teens who

were killed. In two cars, none of the 3 had seat belts on.

No one rides in my car without the seatbelt. And I've watched my teen buckle up as she gets ready to pull out from the house.

[Orsino]

22. I might not insist, or bother checking, except that...

...it's the law. I don't want a ticket, so I always check.

[KamaAina]

23. I most certainly do not.

Then again, I don't drive. :-)

[MissB]

24. I get the ticket if they aren't buckled in.

So yeah. I insist.

I especially insist if I'm hauling kids, even down to school.

[pitohui]

25. jesus i'm not your mom

i don't think it should have to be my job to nag people if they're grown-ups

i doubt it's the only thing you're really uptight abt, to be honest, people who nag don't just nag on one topic, they just don't hear themselves -- and i'm probably the same way but i don't remember telling anyone to "buckle up" in a june cleaverlike tone lately, i do try to avoid being that controlling

[Solon]

27. OK, to defend myself, I'm wouldn't sound like June Cleaver...

If someone was ADAMANT on the other hand, in not wearing a seatbelt in my car, I tell them they can walk. I'm not risking getting either a ticket or them getting killed in MY damned car, but that's just me.

[reyd reid reed]

28. Always...no exceptions.

Mostly I'm driving my kids around and that's pretty much it...and they have to buckle, no excuses; no ifs, ands, or buts...

It's my job.

Plus, anyone under the age of 16 in the vehicle is unbuckled, it's a primary offense, I think.

[swag]

29. It hasn't been an issue. They buckle up.

So I voted "never."

[fizzgig]

30. every time

the car doesn't move unless everyone is buckled up. yeah, i drive a volvo, but that doens't mean a thing if the seatbelts aren't used

i've had people argue with me and i tell them they are welcome to walk

that usually works

i've written too many stories about people smashed to shit because they weren't buckled up

[Kerrytravelers]

31. I won't drive until everyone is buckled in.

Why should I get a ticket for their breaking the law in CA?

[jakefrep]

33. Truth be told, no

Maybe when kids are in the car. But that doesn't happen too often.

[ContraBass Black]

34. Buckle up or get the hell out.

I'm not going to have you going through my window or over my seat.

[fight4my3sons]

35. I have three kids who are almost always with me when I drive.

They know that the rule in the car is that you have to have your seat belt on before we can go. I expect everyone to follow that rule and set a good example for my children. My husband hates to wear seatbelts and has been ticketed for not wearing one before. I am constantly reminding him to put his on - the only reason he does is for the kids.

[Solon]

37. You know, I would never have guessed you had three kids...

:)

[Nicole]

38. Always

I'm not paying a fine & possibly higher insurance rates because someone didn't want to buckle up. They can do that in their own car & waste their own money.

[anarch]

40. no, but they usually want to after a block or two

:evilgrin:

[Mutley]

41. Yes. I think in my state I can get a ticket for anyone not wearing

a seatbelt, even in the backseat.

[yellowdogintexas]

42. my key will suddenly not turn in the ignition if I haven't heard all

the belt buckles click into place.