Sunday, July 08, 2007

Seat Belts

Okay so a friend has encouraged me to start blogging more than just travel pictures. First I thought maybe I should change the name of this blog then I thought no it does say and all that jazz, so this is all that jazz...

Seat belts laws, now I don't know how you feel about seat belt laws but as far as I'm concerned if I want to drive around with out one on then it should be my right to be willing to to the chance to die should I get in an accident when I'm not wearing my seat belt. I mean really who is going to suffer not you. Who wins by me getting a ticket for not wearing my seat belt? The government that is who. I don't know how much a click-it ticket is in your state but I can tell you what one is in the state of California these days. Back in February when I received my first two click-it tickets the fine was $88. When I received my last one in May the fine had gone up to $246. I get it you may be thinking why in the world do you not just put that seat belt on and save yourself some money and maybe your life if you get in an accident. Well let me tell you a little story.

When I was a sophomore in high school in Jacksonville, Fl I went to the only away football we play that was not in town. For those of you that do not know how big Jacksonville is lets just say it is the largest city in the continental United States in land mass. So for us to play a regular season game out of town it was a long trip and the band did not go. So several friends decided we would go to the game in Titusville. We were about 25 miles from the game when the back right tire of the car blew out and we flip into the air. I was the only person in the car not wearing a seat belt at the time and was thrown out of the car as it rolled. The car ended up upside down in the ditched in water off the side of the road. I ended up with some bumps, bruises and scratches. The three friends that I was with all ended up dead. So quote facts and figures to me all day long about how seat belts save lives. I will tell you about a day in 1981 when 75% of the people in a car that were wearing seat belts died. So for know take my money because mentally 26 years later I'm not ready to put a seat belt on.

4 comments:

The Mater said...

What a horrific experience. I can understand your gut reaction to the seat belts now.

The governor of NJ had a close call recently because of not wearing the belt. It would have probably saved him from his severe injuries. Lots of furor because NJ has a "must wear" mandate in place and their own honcho wasn't doing the deed.

I, for one, am a believer but I never lived through your trauma.

Anonymous said...

I am the polar opposite in opinion because wearing a seatbelt once SAVED my life in a car accident 20 years ago. In fact, I wouldn't be here today to answer your post if I hadn't been wearing a belt. But I can sympathize with the emotions you have regarding your experiences. (((hugs)))

Nora said...

Seshat glad you had a different experience and when I see you later this week I will wear that pesky belt because I don't want our drive stopped. But that does not mean I will like it. But due to prior experiences on this topic we will have to agree to have a difference of opinions. (((hugs))) back

Carolina said...

I'm glad you are blogging, I think you will like it... it'd difficuly for mr right now... but I can't wait until I can type normally again.

The seat belt thing, note easy... you hear stories about how wearing a seat belt safes life and how not wearing also saved lifes, I think that when it's your time, it's your time and well overall just be carefull when driving :D