I got a seat belt ticket because I’m too short to wear my seatbelt properly and this is America!!

I don't know how NC traffic courts are, but in SC, if you plead "not guilty" to ANYTHING, regardless of how good your story is, you'll get chewed out by the judge and your face will be laughed in. I've seen it happen way too many times.
Just sit down, obey orders and drop your pants when they tell you to.
Or just pay it.
 
GotWood said:
you could have fought the parking lot seat belt ticket and won. You cannot be written a ticket on private property. Technically you can drive a car through the parking lot all you want with no driver's license and not get a ticket.

think of the court costs as administrative fees. You had to pay for the officer to pull you over and write you a ticket, the clerk to fill out the paperwork etc etc.The fine is the state or County's winnings.
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It's considered a "public vehicular area" even if it's a private lot. You won't win that one. They basically consider any open area or lot to be a PVA now.
 
obullfish said:
I only wear a seatbelt in my work vehicle or on the trails. I don’t believe in being forced to wear a seatbelt by the law.
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Junkyard Dog said:
I then asked who I was affecting besides mysel if I had a wreck without wearing my seatbelt? He had no answer.
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It's a proven statistical fact that seat belts save lives and decrease injuries.
I agree 100% that it sucks to be told what to do by the State, and that we should not have to nanny one another - but you could consider that there is likely actual cost associated with your demise/serious injury due to not wearing it, and at the least we are decreasing the financial/time burden to the society.

We have several EMS folks here. I am not one. For those, I ask - what is the typical difference in amount of time spent on a scene that involves not belt vs wearing one? Cost in cleanup?
Or, any medical professionals want to chime in? Consider medical costs. What is the average bill for a belt vs non-belt injury? That cost is absorbed by the insurance company or the hospital itself, which just means it is cared for by everybody else's premiums etc.

Also worth noting - many states have contributory negligence laws. I do not know in NC is one, I would not be surprised if so. In this case, your insurance company ycan deny coverage for your medical bill claiming you were at least partially contributing to the injury by not wearing a belt.
 
RatLabGuy said:
It's a proven statistical fact that seat belts save lives and decrease injuries.
I agree 100% that it sucks to be told what to do by the State, and that we should not have to nanny one another - but you could consider that there is likely actual cost associated with your demise/serious injury due to not wearing it, and at the least we are decreasing the financial/time burden to the society.

We have several EMS folks here. I am not one. For those, I ask - what is the typical difference in amount of time spent on a scene that involves not belt vs wearing one? Cost in cleanup?
Or, any medical professionals want to chime in? Consider medical costs. What is the average bill for a belt vs non-belt injury? That cost is absorbed by the insurance company or the hospital itself, which just means it is cared for by everybody else's premiums etc.

Also worth noting - many states have contributory negligence laws. I do not know in NC is one, I would not be surprised if so. In this case, your insurance company ycan deny coverage for your medical bill claiming you were at least partially contributing to the injury by not wearing a belt.
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Here's where my morbidity will come shining through: as the guy that would be operating the hydraulic tools, it's far cheaper for the Fire/Rescue guys if you get ejected. We're not on the scene as long, we don't have the wear on our tools, and it instantly becomes not our problem any longer. Average time on scene for someone properly belted and alive? 15 minutes up to 4 hours, depending on the severity of the crash. Meanwhile, I've been on two to four hour extrications for people that were wearing their seatbelt and died anyway. It's just as possible to die or be injured wearing a seatbelt as it is not wearing one. However, I will say that the accidents that I have been to where they were wearing their belt AND they survived far outnumber the ones that didn't. Take it for what it's worth.
 
I've seen seat belts kill people, and I've seen unbelted people walk away without injury. There are a lot of factors involved in surviving a crash or not. Like maulcruiser, in my experience there are more survivors who were belted than not.

I also think seat belt laws, like motorcycle helmet laws, are money making rackets. If you choose not to use a safety device then that's on you.

Duane
 
Wearing a seat belt reduces your chances of dying in an accident by 43%. If you add the protection of an air bag, your fatality risk is cut by 47%. An air bag by itself reduces the risk of dying in an accident by 13%.

Seriously, though Dylan... if your seatbelt doesn't fit, you should get that fixed. If it's not going over your collarbone, it's not doing its job.
 
Dylan W. said:
You been hearing of him? Yokley?

And your post reads funny, cause I thought your 1st wife was a chick..?o_O
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Yea, that prick pulled us over in our 78 Cheyenne for being overweight, with weighted tags and an empty trailer! Then when that didnt pan out wrote an improper equipment ticket, because the trailer didnt have brakes!!! The judge quite literally laughed at it.
 
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Get a set of these. Darlene and I both use them in the truck. :)
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RatLabGuy said:
It's a proven statistical fact that seat belts save lives and decrease injuries.
I agree 100% that it sucks to be told what to do by the State, and that we should not have to nanny one another - but you could consider that there is likely actual cost associated with your demise/serious injury due to not wearing it, and at the least we are decreasing the financial/time burden to the society.

We have several EMS folks here. I am not one. For those, I ask - what is the typical difference in amount of time spent on a scene that involves not belt vs wearing one? Cost in cleanup?
Or, any medical professionals want to chime in? Consider medical costs. What is the average bill for a belt vs non-belt injury? That cost is absorbed by the insurance company or the hospital itself, which just means it is cared for by everybody else's premiums etc.

Also worth noting - many states have contributory negligence laws. I do not know in NC is one, I would not be surprised if so. In this case, your insurance company ycan deny coverage for your medical bill claiming you were at least partially contributing to the injury by not wearing a belt.
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Im still pretty new to fire, but Ill echo what was said by @maulcruiser . Way too many variables to narrow it down to just a seatbelt. But if we have to start cutting on your car, we will be there for a little bit.


I will say this. I used to not wear my seat belt. I hate them. They are uncomfortable and I had a cousin who drowned because he had his on. Since joining the fire dept, i wear mine even if Im only moving 10 feet. It has a better chance of helping in lower speed crashes, but that is just my observation.
 
shawn said:
Wearing a seat belt reduces your chances of dying in an accident by 43%. If you add the protection of an air bag, your fatality risk is cut by 47%. An air bag by itself reduces the risk of dying in an accident by 13%.

Seriously, though Dylan... if your seatbelt doesn't fit, you should get that fixed. If it's not going over your collarbone, it's not doing its job.
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I wear it properly most of the time. Sometimes I get all sweaty and get sawdust all over me, which causes the seatbelt to really annoy me.
 
If you ride with me, you wear a seatbelt. I don't want to be injured by your body flying around in my vehicle in what should have been a minor crash.
 
I've gotten a couple seat belt tickets. First one I got lit up putting my seat belt on as I was leaving a gas station. Second one, I actually had my belt on, big puffy hunting jacket and my shoulder sits pretty close to a 73-79 ford seat belt retractor, so the cop said he couldn't see the belt from his vantage point, but would note it was on when he got up to my window. That one still irks me, because it still cost me $100 to settle the ticket, can't remember why though. Beyond that, seat belts have always been second nature, and I can't remember a time where I intentionally didn't wear one or wore one in an unintended fashion.
 
braxton357 said:
Ok so where is "properly" defined?
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Not sure if the state properly defines properly, lol. And I don't care to go look it up, because buckling up is the second thing I do in a vehicle, just after cranking it to get the damn ac working, but most owners manuals for vehicles have a whole chapter about proper seat belt usage. Not that anyone but me has ever seen it (and that's while I was thumbing through trying to figure out how to reset your damn oil change light, seriously can't they make that an industry standard).

Gm in particular has fancy drawings of a torso showing the skeletal structure and where the seatbelt should be. And that's as low on the hips as possible and across the shoulder, because the pelvis and shoulder blades are the best bones in the body to spread the impact of a crash over without causing more or worse injuries.

Under your arm means you're putting force on the rib cage and it can't take several times your body weight without breaking and possible internal organ punctures.
 
jeepinmatt said:
If you ride with me, you wear a seatbelt. I don't want to be injured by your body flying around in my vehicle in what should have been a minor crash.
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My car doesn't move until everybody is belted. Period, no exceptions.

When we were kids, my parents had this game - last one to buckle their belt was the Green Pig, and had to oink twice. Turned into a constant free for all chaos when entering the car... but I feel awkward and naked w/o it now.
 
short jokes aside....

claim the car insnt manufactured to fit you in a safe manner. that because of your height, the construction of the vehicle places the belt in an unsafe position. Ask the prosecutor if he can provide evidence to prove that the seat belt is safe for someone of your height.

if you got to go... you might as well waste their time too. like mentioned before.. theres no points on y our license, might as well have a bit of fun with this one and make the DA earn the money
 
Yep. Seatbelt or your ass can walk.
You don't have to be involved in the car accident to understand the importance of seat belts, all you have to do is witness one. I've experienced both.
Project Steampunk
 
Seat belts saves lives. Seatbelts take lives. That's a fact. It is not a statistical fact they save lives. It is a probability and that's on each individual case. Often times it increases your chances other it causes a certain death. Ten years ago on a certain day and time I didn't have one on, I walked away . Had I been strapped to that jeep barrel rolling down the interstate I would be dead. I didnt cause the accident but tried to prevent it. Even the trooper mentioned that in a speech a friend witnessed a week or so later. He said I probably saved lives by reacting as quickly as I did. But I still argue it should be your decision either way. Its mine.
 
sawdoff said:
Seat belts saves lives. Seatbelts take lives. That's a fact. It is not a statistical fact they save lives. It is a probability and that's on each individual case. Often times it increases your chances other it causes a certain death. Ten years ago on a certain day and time I didn't have one on, I walked away . Had I been strapped to that jeep barrel rolling down the interstate I would be dead. I didnt cause the accident but tried to prevent it. Even the trooper mentioned that in a speech a friend witnessed a week or so later. He said I probably saved lives by reacting as quickly as I did. But I still argue it should be your decision either way. Its mine.
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Thats my opinion. Yes, they typically save lives. But your life is your choice. Want to increase your odds of dying, dont wear your seat belt.
 
Agreed. Play the save odds. Wear it. but it doesn't guarantee shit except after the wreck you're easier to find.






Hell after I got thrown out at 65+mph I wandered around until a fireman grabbed me and strapped me to a backboard.
 
I’ll take my chances and continue to do what I do. I’ve had a few friends killed wearing their seatbelts that had a good chance of surviving if they weren’t wearing them.

I will say if you are ever riding with me and you see me put mine on you better buckle the hell up as it’s about to be a wild ride.
 
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