s/o Seatbelts

[Anonymous]

How vigilant are you when other people's kids do not wear seatbelts in your car? DD is 14 and I am always having to remind her friends to buckle up. It is amazing to me how many kids don't do it automatically.

One of my fears is getting into an accident and not having realized that I was driving an unbuckled kid.

[Anonymous]

My car does not move unless everyone in it (child or adult) is wearing a seatbelt.

[Anonymous]

I never start the car without looking over all the passengers to make sure they have seatbelts on. That goes for adults too.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My car does not move unless everyone in it (child or adult) is wearing a seatbelt.

Ditto.

Was the same when I grew up - my parents wouldn't move the car without everyone strapped in. It's not the passenger's choice, it's yours.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My car does not move unless everyone in it (child or adult) is wearing a seatbelt.

Same for us. I had a friend in elementary school whose mom was the same way. Hard to believe, but in the late 70's/early 80's, this was actually kind of unusual.

I truly do not understand people who don't use seatbelts these days. I guess people just think accidents won't happen to them.

[Anonymous]

I think there's a nuance to OP's question that people are missing. Everyone is in agreement that we don't drive without passengers being buckled up. But if that's a given, why do so many young passengers need constant reminding? And given the fact that they do, shouldn't we be more concerned about young (teenage) drivers?

[Anonymous]

It always surprises me when I meet adults who actually refuse to wear a seatbelt. In college I had a few friends who were like this (old enough to know better.) It became a big argument if they wanted to travel in my car, they would state it was their life to risk to which I answered with the story of my cousin who was almost killed in a serious crash because her backseat passenger was not belted and flew forward crushing her into the engine block.

I guess it is the same for the teenagers, feeling invincible like nothing could happen to them and that first taste of independence

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My car does not move unless everyone in it (child or adult) is wearing a seatbelt.

Ditto. My mother in the 80's used to do a seatbelt check that was a game. I do it too now.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My car does not move unless everyone in it (child or adult) is wearing a seatbelt.

Same here. And I have been mocked for this, but I don't care. My mom was the same way.
I am guessing that if kids don't automatically buckle up either they are trying to assert independence/be "cool" or their parents didn't make them wear seatbelts growing up. I knew plenty of kids whose parents didn't have them use seatbelts. It became an issue sometimes when carpooling.

[Anonymous]

I even tell my adult friends that I don't want them to become projectiles in the event of an accident. I don't enforce it for adults beyond that, but for kids, I would definitely enforce it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My car does not move unless everyone in it (child or adult) is wearing a seatbelt.

Same for us. I had a friend in elementary school whose mom was the same way. Hard to believe, but in the late 70's/early 80's, this was actually kind of unusual.

Yep! I was born in the mid 70s...my best friend's mom had a rule that everyone had to wear a seatbelt, my mom didn't...Heck, we had a station wagon and we used to ride in that back cargo area all the time. Then in the mid 80s sometime, our state (Massachusetts) passed a law that everyone had to wear a seatbelt. That was the first time my parents enforced wearing a seat belt.