Seat Belts

[Hotscoots]

I wear them also . Not always around town when driving at the 30 mph limit . But know 1st hand that "they" would rather you did not wear them . Revenue for the county is robust .
If safety were the paramount concern , why are Police officers not required to wear them , even at routine high speeds?
Relevant to "safety" , why do you get a summons when your kid is not in a child seat but they can bounce around helter skelter on a school bus?

 

[BilgeRat]

Anyone's right to not wear a seatbelt ends at the front bumper of my car. It's an integral part of vehicle control. If you are bouncing around the driver's seat, you're not controlling your vehicle, you are trying to stay in the seat, and you can't do much of a job of control, and therefore avoiding me. I've worn the belts long before they were required; in my racing days, I also watched many, many drivers unbelt and walk away from a smoking pile of junk that had been a race car moments before. Remember the scene of Davy Jones's BMW exploding into pieces they used to show as part of the intro to "Wide World of Sports"? That car survived two hits and Jones walked away. Granted, there's multiple safety systems involved there, but he's be dead without the harness...

The state cops that I used to work with at the gambling boat also said that they had seen some severely injured people (who did sometimes die) unbelted from wrecks, but the vast majority lived. I'm certain that all of us know someone who survived a hellish crash due to their belts and airbags...

Another thing I used to hear a lot of was "I'm not gonna wear those belts, I wanna be thrown clear". Um, yeah... A friend of mine was big on that one. He ran in the ditch with his pickup one night (speculation was that he had most likely fallen asleep) and got his wish. He was thrown clear. Then the truck rolled over him, and left him about 0.5" thick... Bottom line is that you're far better letting the vehicle take the impacts than letting your body do it. I'm glad that modern cars are built the way they are, and Paul is definitely on that bandwagon.

 

[Thomas Maule]

I always wear a seat-belt... I don't feel safe without one. I was in 1 accident, a head on collision, and the seat-belt, plus air bag left me with only some rattled bones. It works... My main concern is that Elio vets the air-bag supplier very well in light of the recent reports of air-bags throwing shrapnel into peoples faces! My 2000 saturn didn't do that, there is no excuse in 2015... It's better to spend extra money on better airbags than to have maimed customers, a massive recall, bad publicity, and the accompanying financial issues that would follow

 

[WilliamH]

A lot of people misconstrued what I said about seat belts. I don't like the ratcheting retractor type of three point belt which I may have improperly identified a inertial retractors. I have, mostly, worn them for over 50 years and had them installed in the cars that didn't already have them. I remember coming to hanging upside down from the lap belt in an International Travel-all that I rolled one night so I understand they do have benefits. I also remember rolling a pumper into an accident scene and seeing five bodies strapped in a VW Square Back when we knocked out the flames. The fifth was thrown clear and survived. (Won't blame the belts for that.) So I have seen the good and the bad.

 

[Thomas Maule]

Speaking of crashes.... How long do you guys think it will be until the first customer totals their Elio? It's just a matter of time ^^. I say within the first 30 days of deliveries going out ^^....

 

[JEBar]

Speaking of crashes.... How long do you guys think it will be until the first customer totals their Elio? It's just a matter of time ^^. I say within the first 30 days of deliveries going out ^^....

I wouldn't be a bit surprised .... I doubt it will take long before someone tries to push their Elio past its limits

 

[skygazer6033]

TM --- if an early reservation holder totals their Elio it could take years to replace since the next 40,000 are already spoken for. Don't know if EM has any "cut in line" provision for the replacement of a totalled Elio.

 

[Coss]

TM --- if an early reservation holder totals their Elio it could take years to replace since the next 40,000 are already spoken for. Don't know if EM has any "cut in line" provision for the replacement of a totalled Elio.

I guess that would depend on how long it took you to heal first

 

[Rickb]

I wear them also . Not always around town when driving at the 30 mph limit . But know 1st hand that "they" would rather you did not wear them . Revenue for the county is robust .
If safety were the paramount concern , why are Police officers not required to wear them , even at routine high speeds?
Relevant to "safety" , why do you get a summons when your kid is not in a child seat but they can bounce around helter skelter on a school bus?

In-town at 30-40 mph is a good time to wear them. My Uncle was involved in a low speed intersection crash while driving his vehicle.......oddly he ended up in the back seat with some broken bones. Best practice to always buckle up. Police officers don't buckle up?

 

[Bert]

By State laws, Officers should be buckled up. Some choose not too and there's issues with that. "If'" an Officer is involved in an accident and recieves injury, they only get coverage for half the cost of the medical bills. "If" they are the cause of the accident, the Dept.s insurance does not cover the other party(s) costs.
Usually when rolling up on an incident, Officers unbuckle just before arriving, as being restrained in place in some circumstances isn't a good idea.