Why, Why, Why??????????????

[arhaney]

Why do people not wear seatbelts? We had a 2 car MVC this morning and if one of the gentlemen would have had his seatbelt on, he would have walked away with no injuries. Instead, he was partially ejected through the rear window and suffered a bad head injury. This just makes me sick, How about you? You just see it so many times......

Sorry for the vent session........:(

[SAFD46Truck]

I see it all the time too. What drives me nuts is when you're out in the rig and you look down and see some idiot driving next to you with his/her kid unrestrained and crawling all over the place. GRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR....I HATE THAT!!!:mad:

[fireguy919]

No problem. Wish people could see what we see and they would understand why they should wear their seatbelt. The only one I ever seen where it benifitted the guy not to have a seatbelt on was because he was drunk. Killed the guy he was with. but that was one of very many.

[sbfdco1]

Vent away, it definitly helps! We had a jack@ss the other morning drunk, speeding, no seatbelt, run a stop sign and split a telephone pole in half. He wound up putting his head through the windshield, ON THE PASSANGER SIDE! :rolleyes: :mad: 180 stiches in hih face!

I don't have kids yet, but when we do and they start to drive - the second place I take them after drivers ed is to the morgue! That should scare them into obeying teh rules of the road.

[spearsm]

"AHH! That won't happen to me......"

That logic gets people all the time. How many time have you heard the victims say, "out of nowhere" or "all of a sudden" or "just like that". You feel sorry for them because of the pain and suffering, but you just can't help but think, (in the words of JohnBoy) "STUUUUUUUPPID!"

[SANDSTROMJM]

I have a 12 y/o boy & 16 y/o girl, and since they have been old enough to comprehend, I have been taking them to the impound yard after we have done extrications. My kids have been shown the reality of life. I have also explained to them what happened to the pts.
I used to start my truck then I would belt up, that was until my son freaked out that I wasn't belted & the truck was running. It has changed my habbit, but atleast I had the knowlege that the info got through.

[Dave404]

This is one of the things thatr bothers me most - something so simple. Its too late once your dead!

Now I approach it as though it was part of a greater plan NATURAL SELECTION!!!

Only the smart survive:)

[LaFireEducator]

On a similiar note ... Why, why, why do firefighter have to be pushed, mandated, threatened and forced by thier superiors to wear thier seatbelts in the rigs after seeing the public get tossed around like rag dolls? Do you wear your seatbelt? Does your crew? Do you have guys on your department that just plain won't, even though there may be a SOP mandating it?

I know here, and I'll be honest about it, we have an SOP that mandates seatbelt usage in the rigs at all times, but it is also our policy to throw our gear in the trucks and bunker up enroute to the call rather in the station. Makes sense huh? The response I get from the Chief is that we need to be concerned about response times.
I am sure that we are not the only department that does this ... again we walk the walk about firefighter safety, but not talk the talk. Even when not responding, it's like pulling teeth to get some folks to wear them. Why, why, why?

So I guess at we add seat belts to the "Do as I Say, Not as I Do" list. It goes right under drinking and driving, sprinkler systems and smoke detectors/alarm systems .....

[ChiefReason]

Interesting timing.
Just in last night's local paper on the editorial page, a female teen-ager thought that anyone over the age of eighteen should be able to make the decision to wear a seat belt or not.
Her logic was that people only put them on when they see a cop.
Very flawed thinking from the future generation.
CR

[Bones42]

Her logic was that people only put them on when they see a cop. Local radio station near me advertises where police "seat belt" checkpoints are so people know when to put them on before they are caught. :(

[SANDSTROMJM]

Would that be typical per the name "The Rat" ?????

[DepChief135]

My two kids are old enough to drive, and have never seen their mother or I start the car without being belted in. They have also heard me come home and "decompress" after having been on a run where the seat belt wasnt used, and it would have made the difference. Both of them are very good about buckling up. I am thankful for that. You just never know. My niece had a roll over accident over the weekend and ended up hanging from the seatbelt. She had her seatbelt on and walked away with some scratches and a bump. Thanks for setting up the vent session!

[Dave1983]

Feel free to vent all you want brother. We are here to help;)

A few more for the old BP.

Why do people ride motorcycles without helmets?
Why dont people put small children in car seats?
Why do people cross the street against the big red hand?
Why dont people have smoke detectors?
Why do people go boating without PFDs?

We could go on forever:rolleyes:

[captstanm1]

Why do people ride motorcycles without helmets? Because they are organ donors!

[arhaney]

Originally posted by Bones42
Local radio station near me advertises where police "seat belt" checkpoints are so people know when to put them on before they are caught. :(

Holy Cow! Perhaps these same people at the radio station should ride shotgun on the rescue truck for a while. :rolleyes:

What a public service they are doing, dumba$$ jerks. Sorry been a bad day.

[Dave1983]

Originally posted by arhaney


Holy Cow! Perhaps these same people at the radio station should ride shotgun on the rescue truck for a while. :rolleyes:

What a public service they are doing, dumba$$ jerks. Sorry been a bad day.

The media is good for that. The local fishwrap here has been known to print the location of DUI checkpoints and speed traps. Then again, I guess thats what the PD gets for telling the fishwrap:rolleyes: :rolleyes:

[Tooanfrom]

Over here in Kiwi land,we have escalators /moving staircases.
We also have a large population of people who go barefoot.
We also have adults who let their very young children sit and play on the aforesaid equipment.
Whilst I was in the L.F.B. I spent a particularly gruesome couple of hours cutting a small child, whose buttocks had been drawn into the "comb" at the bottom of a moving staircaircase,free from the metal bits and listening to resulting screams and hysterical mother etc.
Why do the parents look at you as tho you are stupid when you point this out?

[ROOKIELZ]

I have railed long and hard about this one:

our SK laws state that all occupants IN a vehicle MUST wear seat belts at ALL times while the vehicle is in motion.

BUT (get this...)

You can put your kids in the back of your pickup and drive down the highway at speeds over 120km/hr and there is no law against it even if one of the children looks to be about 3 or 4 yrs old!

For the life of me I just do not understand that. Wouldn't it be reckless endangerment or something??

It really gets my goat!!!:mad:

[Bones42]

Originally posted by SANDSTROMJM
Would that be typical per the name "The Rat" ????? Nope, not "The Rat". Someone in the 100's.

In June, we'll be playing softball against them in the stadium. :D

[Plattsfire2]

A particularly bad call comes to mind. Last summer, van vs. SUV - people in the SUV had on seatbelts, van occupants did not. T bone crash, ALL van occupants ejected. Two DOA, third in critical condition at trauma center. You guessed it, SUV occupants both walked away with only scratches. Perfect example. :rolleyes:

[arhaney]

Originally posted by Plattsfire2
A particularly bad call comes to mind. Last summer, van vs. SUV - people in the SUV had on seatbelts, van occupants did not. T bone crash, ALL van occupants ejected. Two DOA, third in critical condition at trauma center. You guessed it, SUV occupants both walked away with only scratches. Perfect example. :rolleyes:

That made me think back to last year, 2 car MVC, 4 in each car. No injuries in one, the other car had in who died later (4 year old) and one very serious condition and the rest with broken bones etc......

Yep no belts in one, everyone with belts on in the other.

[FireLt1951]

Stupidity is alive and well.

[arhaney]

Looks like the guy is going to make it. :) I've been taking the "word" to a lot of my customers that come into my shop. Just taking a moment to talk with them and see if they wear them or not. If they do I thank them for doing so and encourage them to keep wearing. If they don't, I try and explain to them how I care about them and explain why they should be wearing them, in a very nice and caring manner. Not being judgemental or anything. Just my own little crusade I guess.

[tk1918]

I've often thought about blowing up pictures of MVA's and posting them on billboards near our station, and doing more at our annual fundraisers. Think it would make a difference? I think if these people see the pictures they'll reconsider. I realize there are many we won't pursuade, but we can hope for them at least, right?

I just went to a funeral last week, a girl I graduated high school with. She and her husband were riding their motorcycle without helmets, he went left of center and hit the oncoming car head on. He was thrown 70 feet and is barely alive, and she was thrown through the windshield. The 18-year old driving the car has been traumatized for life.

The MVA in January that I had a hard time with was a 20 year old driving at least 65 mph on a curvy state route without his seatbelt, drunk too. He lost control (duh!!), uprooted a tree, and broke his neck.

What really burns my cookies is that we don't do any public awareness anymore. We used to host a mock accident at our local high school and put on a program for them to educate them about results of speeding, drinking and driving, etc... Now, everyone says it's too much work and money and it gets put on the back burner.

[DrParasite]

double fatal on friday night, both in their early twenties, wrapped around a tree on a local road, from the positions they were found in, I don't think either were wearing seatbelts. If I had my camera with me, I would have taken pics, as they show what can happen when you speed on wet roads.

[cozmosis]

Originally posted by Dave1983
The media is good for that. The local fishwrap here has been known to print the location of DUI checkpoints and speed traps. Then again, I guess thats what the PD gets for telling the fishwrap

On one of the television morning shows here, police officers from rotating agencies appear live to tell where their "Operation Safe Speed" checkpoints are. The thing is... They publicize where there will be heavy enforcement and they still catch folks. I believe the point of the program is to increase awareness of driving habits and hopefully change them. Similar programs have won awards for their effectiveness in other cities.

http://www.todaysthv.com/ThisMorning/regulars.asp
(Scroll down to bottom of page for Operation Safe Speed)