Can not wearing a seatbelt be dangerous to others besides yourself?

You can find some very interesting arguments here

Well, flying through windshield is going to result in a loss of control of the car. And then the emergency workers speeding to save your life pose a threat to others and themselves.

Seriously, he just needs to suck it up and obey the law. If he gets hurt and loses control of the car, you die too. Period.

If his body is free to fly all over the car he could slam into another passenger.

Your unseatbelted body can become a 120–200 or whatever lb missile!

Passengers not wearing seatbelts can kill or seriously injure others in the car if, for example, the driver has to brake suddenly.

But the fact is, it’s not all about you. There may be other people in the car who could be hurt when your body becomes a projectile. There’s also the financial issue: If you’re seriously injured because you haven’t buckled up, you’re bound to be a burden to society, to put it bluntly.

Ask him who will take care of him and should they have to when he becomes a vegetable.

If he’s driving, he won’t be for long if he projects through the windshield – thus endangering the lives of the passangers.

If he’s the passanger, he could slam into the driver who is trying control the car.

If he’s in the back seat, his banging around could distract the driver who is trying to control the vehicle.

So he would be safest and pose the least hazard to other passangers in the trunk.

Or…he could just wear his seatbelt.

If he’s not wearing a seatbelt, he’s being selfish to you because he’s not thinking about how much it would hurt you if he was killed, which is so much less likely to happen in an accident if only he would wear a selt belt.

That’s a relatively small sacrifice to make for someone you care about.

Absolutely, my brother died in a car accident – I researched a lot about seat belts since people in the back (he was in the shotgun seat) weren’t wearing seat belts and it does make it dangerous for the others passengers as the ones not wearing seat belts can be flung forward and affect the person in front and air bags can be affected in a negative way, as well

What is his objection to seat belts? It is hard to imagine anyone who has a reasonable intellect considering driving without a seat belt to be safer than driving with one.

I’m opposed to drug control laws, but I don’t take enormous amounts of drugs because I know it could kill me. Same thing applies to seat belts, IMHO. You can argue that the law is bogus, but, long story short, it’s been proven that seat belts keep everyone safer, in the event of a crash.

My man recently took one of those courses to get a ticket off his record. He was incredibly disturbed by video that showed an unbelted passenger slamming around the car and into other passengers. Here is an article that sheds some light on the subject and another one you might find helpful.

I wear mine. It is the law. Even if it wasn’t the law I would wear mine.

With that said, I don’t think it is appropriate for a portion of my tax dollars going toward this law and it’s enforcement. The law, and the money spent on it don’t make a marked difference in the number of people who buckle-up.

Some insurance companies will not pay for medical treatment for those not belted in.

and after he is thrown from the car, and lands in a ditch 200 feet away, the police will ticket him for leaving the scene of an accident.

On top of everything else, it pretty much ruins a bunch of people’s day when they have to scrape his splattered remains off the highway. If he survives it all, it can ruin your day if you continue to stay with him – trust me, rubber gloves are involved with the care of para- and quadriplegics.

And yes, as others have said, anything in a car that is not tied down will become a projectile during an accident. Its bad enough to be hit with a 1-pound road atlas going 60 miles an hour, but think about being hit with a 180-pound man going that speed.

And actually, @Blondesjon, the rate of seat belt use has increased greatly due to enforcement. Starting in 1983 and 1984 it was 14% of American drivers who buckled up. By 1994 it was 67%, by 2004 it was 80%, and in 2008 it was up to 83%.

@Darwin . . .How is that actually tracked?

I know a lot of folks who slip their seat belts across their shoulders when they see a cop and that buckle up as soon as they are in line for the roadblock.

@Blondesjon – It is based on NHTSA’s National Occupant Protection Use Survey, which has a degree of error to it, but overall the death and injury rates in accidents seem to follow along with the estimated seat belt use rate.

@Darwin . . .I see. Impressive numbers.

it’s a shame that unemployment can’t make a jump like that…

well, in theory, yes, if you’re sitting in the back seat and have a really bad accident (like hit a brick wall at 100 mph) then yes, the person in the back could fall onto the seat in the front and perhaps even hit the person in the front. But in such a case, whatever damage he causes will be insignificant compared to the actual damage caused by the crash. I think your argument is simply too weak to hold.

Yes it can

@RareDenver: Whoa.

in another thread, there was some persuasive argumentation about unbelted rear-seat passengers becoming projectiles that harm front-seaters (belted or not). i think that i’ve also seen some credible arguments abot being secured’s helping the driver to remain able to control the vehicle.

As I posted in the thread already cited, I remember my driving manual saying the reason the driver should have a seat belt is ALSO so that he can remain in a position to keep control of the car in an accident. So it DOES affect others.

Yes, by putting a strain on the emergency system.

@Jack79 – “well, in theory, yes, if you’re sitting in the back seat and have a really bad accident (like hit a brick wall at 100 mph) then yes, the person in the back could fall onto the seat in the front and perhaps even hit the person in the front.” I would like to see some evidence so support your statement. It appears to be complete speculation to me.

In the mean time I am having my Physics professor friend work up some comparisons to show what a 25 mph crash, not even to a dead stop, would be like.

Also, it isn’t just to protect you from the car your in, it is to help protect you from the drunk that hits you.

Step 2 (if you get past step 1). Teach him to retrain his brain everytime he gets behind the wheel. Instead of “I must wear seatbelt so I don’t get a ticket.” think “I will wear seatbelt because I value my life and my passengers’ lives.”

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e6Qhmdk4VNs this may open some eyes