Serious question......

If someone gives me the excuse of it is uncomfortable, I usually tell them that a casket probably isn't very comfortable either. Like DaysLady, I have also heard that it is their life/safety...but I counter that argument with "No, it is also everyone else in the vehicle safety because it you are unbuckled and we have an accident, then you become a flying object in the car and can smash into someone else.....I don't want to have done everything that I could have done to protect myself and then have someone irresponsible smash into me and either hurt or kill me." Now, if you are alone in your vehicle and don't want to wear your seatbelt, then that is totally your call, you are only putting yourself at risk.....except when you have a family, then you are putting their mental and financial well being at risk as well, even if they are not in the car with you.

I have a friend that was T-boned and it caused her car to flip three times and the ONLY thing that saved her was her seatbelt...and she hung upside down for 45 minutes from that seatbelt until the paramedics could get her out. Also, there was an accident in our area last fall where there were four 19 & 20 yr olds in a truck, driver lost control, went into ditch, truck flipped, and then hit a tree. The two that were not wearing a seatbelt (one in front and one in back) were ejected (one of them 12 feet into the woods) and the other two had on their seatbelts and while they were injured, they were not ejected and are still alive and well.

BTW..love the video Barb.
 
I always wear mine. The only exception is when we're just moving vehicles around on our own property, usually so we can mow or hauling things to and from the barn. My mom never wears hers while driving around her hometown (a small town of 1,000 people). She will wear it when she's going out of town, but the moment she hits the city limit, off goes the seat belt. I give her a hard time about it.

Now I will share a bit about my brother's wreck 16 years ago. He fell asleep and hit a culvert while going 65-70 miles per hour. He was thrown from his truck as he wasn't wearing a seat belt. He had head trauma from hitting his head and broken facial bones from landing on his face, but he had virtually no other injuries lower than his head, beyond a few scrapes. His truck crushed and there was only 2 inches between the driver's seat and the steering wheel, so if he had been belted in he would have had major chest/internal injuries. Not that that's any reason not to wear a seat belt because the majority of the time, seat belts will help.
 
Every time. In fact, in our rush to get ready to go to school this morning I loaded my 4 year old daughter, my 2 year old son and the 11 month old girl I babysit into the car, got in my seat, belted, then started backing up only to hear Grace quietly say "But, my seat belt isn't buckled!" Even she knows we're not supposed to move until everyone is safe and buckled in.
 
That is how my daughters were when they were little. My mom took care of them and my two nieces and if someone wasn't buckled in when my mom started backing out, one of them would let her know!
 
I always wear my seatbelt, except when I'm not leaving the driveway. We're on 1 acre, a very square plot, and the front of the house is 2/3 of the way back from the road. When the weather is cold or wet, I'll drive my daughter to the end of the driveway to wait for the bus. We still often buckle up then too. If I stop, as I'm pulling in the driveway, to check the mail, I may not put my seatbelt back on, but I usually do. When I don't, I think of an incident that happened to my ex-husband back when we were dating.

He'd been home from Army Basic Training for about a month, so his hair was pretty short (this will be important to the story) and was riding with a friend. The two of them rarely wore their seatbelts, but did one particular day. I believe it was the fuel injector that was acting up in the car, which prompted their decision. The friend pulled up to the stop sign at a T intersection, checked both ways and began to pull forward. He'd barely touched the gas, when the car leapt forward and came to a rest in the ditch on the other side of the street. My ex-husband's very short bangs brushed the windshield. Both guys became believers in seat belts on that day.

So, after checking the mail and getting back in my car, I look down my driveway, which is all downhill, through my breezeway, where I park, to the large oak tree that sits at the back of the property, in line with the driver's side of the car, and take a moment to buckle up.
 
The thing is, you never ever know when SOMEONE ELSE, in another vehicle, will skid on a patch of ice, or wet pavement, have a stroke, seizure, try to avoid a dog, another vehicle, etc. RIGHT IN YOUR OWN LITTLE TOWN, neighborhood, street, etc. and hit your car. Heck, I was stopped in front of the post office, about to pull into a diagonal parking spot, (one way street, diagonal parking on both sides) and this guy backed out right into my car. One never knows.
 
I always wear mine since the crash that took Princess Diana's life. The only one that survived that crash was wearing his seat belt. That convinced me!
 
Years ago I was in my only head on collision. Going down a hill too fast in the rain hydroplaned. My female passenger had just taken off her seatbelt to find something in the back seat and POW! She hit the windshield. Everyone in both cars survived. Though I think the girl messed her neck up permanently. One of the worst Days of my Life. I always wear the belt. With all the texting etc. it is too dangerous.
 
Always without a doubt. It isn't even a question for my kid either. They automatically buckle up. My husband is a firefighter and can tell some incredible stories of what seat belts can do and what can happen when you don't wear them.
 
My husband has said that he has rolled on accidents where he just thought no way could somebody survive and everyone walked away because of seatbelts. He's also been on accidents where it looked like no big deal and the person didn't survive.
 
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