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From: blesch@whuxj.UUCP (Carl Blesch)
Newsgroups: net.auto
Subject: Seatbelt discussion -- new twist
Message-ID: <93@whuxj.UUCP>
Date: Fri, 27-Jan-84 13:18:12 EST
Article-I.D.: whuxj.93
Posted: Fri Jan 27 13:18:12 1984
Date-Received: Tue, 31-Jan-84 02:11:47 EST
Organization: Bell Labs, Whippany, N.J.
Lines: 27

Recently there's been quite a bit of discussion in
net.followup on mandatory seatbelt laws.
I'd like to start up a bit of discussion on a related
matter and see how people think.

I've been a seatbelt wearer ever since I took driver's ed
in high school, and my seatbelt habit paid off last year
when I was able to walk away mildly bruised from a rather
serious accident.  When I mention how valuable my seatbelt
was to ardent seatbelt non-users, they often respond,
"well, I know of so-and-so who was in a crash, and she
survived 'cause she WASN'T wearing her seatbelt."
These people explain that so-and-so's car flipped into
the river and the driver would have been trapped
if she were wearing her belt,
or she was hit from the side and got pushed out of the way,
whereas if she were belted in, would have been squashed, etc.

I'm wondering, are there any statistics to substantiate
these sort of things -- that not wearing a seatbelt can
actually help in certain crashes, or conversely, that
seatbelts can be liabilities in certain types of crashes?
I'm afraid that seatbelt non-users will cook up any kind
of a story to excuse their bad habit.

Still plan to keep wearing my seatbelt . . .
Carl Blesch, . . .!whuxj!blesch