I/My parents did [thing] and I'm okay!

[Sleepwalker]

The seat belt slants across the upper body, how could it be 'flat across' someone's breasts?

[protege]

Yeah, I figured as much, but even giving them the benefit of the doubt it didn't add up as a reason not to wear a seatbelt.

Some people will invent all sorts of stories as "reasons" to not do something. I've heard of people not wanting to belt themselves in, because "what if the vehicle catches fire, and I can't get out." Seriously? Vehicles catching fire after an accident happens so infrequently that it's laughable. Despite what Holllywood (and Grand Theft Auto) claims, your car is not going to become a roaring inferno after an accident. I could understand if the other vehicle happens to be a gas truck, but are you kidding me?

Another "excuse" I've heard, is "I'd rather be thrown clear of the wreck." Again, are you kidding me? You'd rather be tossed about like a rowboat on a stormy ocean with no control of what you're about to hit (or what is going to hit YOU)...rather than being safely belted in place...and the car's structure absorbing the impact forces? I don't know about the rest of you, but I'd rather suffer some cuts and bruises...than being DOA after being hurled at a tree.

It's not just driving either. Some of you might remember me posting on CS about a coworker of mine that got hit by a forklift at Hechinger's. He was up on the forks, having someone else drive, so he could examine an elevated water line. Rather than take the time to install the safety cage over the lift's forks, he decided that he'd stand on a pallet instead. Halfway through his inspection, the lift ran over something on the floor...and he fell. 8 feet straight down onto the concrete warehouse floor. The guy driving the forklift couldn't stop in time, and ran his ass over

The guy who got hit ended up in the hospital with a snapped lower leg, shattered knee, and a broken arm. 2 months in the hospital plus another few more of rehab, since his foot was 90-degrees from where it should have been.

All of that, simply because using the safety gear "would have taken too much time." No excuse for that. The gear is there, use it.

[s_stabeler]

I was trying to question how come the seatbelt was even able to cut into a breast when a seatbelt isn't supposed to have an edge pointing at the occupant.

[HYHYBT]

If the shoulder belt started out loose and below the breast..

As for being trapped: the seatbelt greatly increases your chances of being both alive and conscious when hings come to a stop. If you're aluve and conscious, you can probably unbuckle the belt.

[tabbyblack13]

All of that, simply because using the safety gear "would have taken too much time."

I work in the mining industry and that attitude accounts for a lot of accidents. A lot of the old heads are still quick to do stuff without safety gear. When that happens, the younger guys see it and copies them. We had to start firing people that were not wearing their seat belts because of how bad it was.

There are people complaining that the seat belts are uncomfortable. I understand it because I'm 5'6" with a good sized chest. Seat belts suck for me but I still away wear them and try to make sure that they fit right. Now there are vehicles where you can lower or raise the seat belt to make it fit better. Unfortunately with the work trucks I drive (F250s and bigger) sometimes they still suck.

[BlaqueKatt]

but I think that's more along the lines of internal bleeding. When I was pregnant I had to make sure I had mine on around my belly because it could cause even more damage if worn incorrectly.

It's supposed to be low across the pelvic bones, even when pregnant it distributes the force along the large bones. My ex husband almost dies wearing his seatbelt "across his stomach"- It killed his bowel.

[s_stabeler]

If the shoulder belt started out loose and below the breast..

As for being trapped: the seatbelt greatly increases your chances of being both alive and conscious when hings come to a stop. If you're aluve and conscious, you can probably unbuckle the belt.

same point, though- the seatbelt isn't supposed to be worn that way.

[Cia]

I know of one time that not having a seat belt on and flying through the windshield saved the person's life. This is because the bolts holding the back seat to the car sheared off and the backseat rammed into the front seat. If she'd been belted in she'd been squashed, instead she has one hell of a scar on her face but she's alive.

When I was pregnant one of my co-workers actually told me to stop wearing a seatbelt. His reason was that if I was in an accident the belt would squash my stomach, killing the baby. He even said he made his wife stop wearing a seatbelt when she was pregnant. Yes, let's all roll our eyes about that one. I told him wearing a seatbelt correctly would save my life and the baby's because it would keep me in my seat instead of flying out through the windshield and gently arcing into the ground, a tree or some really pointy rocks. He's also one of those who thinks cats steal the breaths of babies.

[Mental_Mouse]

Carelessness....

Last year or so, my local weekly did a map of the recent car accidents in town, noting the fatalities, and which involved people had been wearing seatbelts. Even with (IIRC) less than a dozen accidents, the pattern was pretty blatant.

There is a word for the not using safety equipment (or other precautions) because "it's too much trouble". That word is "carelessness", and carelessness gets people hurt and killed.

I'm generally pretty careful with my kitchen knives, but I do chop a lot of veggies. Every year or two, I manage to cut one of my fingertips with a kitchen knife. (Once or twice I've scorched a finger for a change.) Every damn time, I can immediately look back at the accident and see where I got just a little careless. The fact that I only get a little careless, is why I only get minor injuries in the kitchen.

[Estil]

In regards to the original topic:

It still doesn't necessarily make what they did okay.