Seat Belts -It's not too late, until it's too late.

When you get into your car... for work, for travel, for the 300 yard trip to buy a 12 pack of mountain dew from the shell station... Buckle up. If you get into a vehicle, yourself and every passenger needs a seat belt.

I lost my father Wednesday morning because of his stubbornness against wearing a seat belt. For years, I always asked him to wear a seat belt. His stubbornness over the years finally cost him his life and another 20+ years of having him in our lives.

Through my family's sorrow and despair...

Please folks... fasten that seat belt. No matter where you are going. No matter what you are doing. Buckle the belt. Had my father done so, he'd be here on the other end of the phone call I can never make again...

a reply to: EternalSolace

Sorry to hear the news EternalSolace.

a reply to: EternalSolace

Truly sorry to hear about your loss.
And the message you are trying to get across is one that even that do need to apply to other aspects of driving.
Volume of music and hands free Bluetooth communication and driving hungover. All very bad things. Oh and driving whilst being sleepy.
Keep up the good fight mate.

Kindest regards
Allaroundyou

So sad to hear such news.
I just can't seem not to wear my seat belt. It's like breathing, coming naturally.

So sorry for you..

Back in 1990 i was 26 and crashed my car without a seat belt, i was ejected into some trees and broke my neck in 3 places, fractured pelvis etc. And a lot of head injuries.

i suffer a lot of pain in my old age, here is a picture of my face.

i have uploaded the pic but seem unable to see it ?

anyone ?


ok so i have got it as a background on my avatar.... brilliant !

a reply to: EternalSolace

Last accident I had, waiting for a green light, another car hit me in the back. My car became total loss and the seat belt saved my life.

Sorry for the unfortunate situation you're going through now.

a reply to: EternalSolace

How tragic! I am so sorry to hear that you lost your Father EternalSolace. You made me think twice about wearing a seatbelt. Depending on who is driving me somewhere, some make me wear it and others don't.


I lost my own Dad and know how painful that is, but my Father was elderly and yours could have still been here.

originally posted by: Trueman
a reply to: EternalSolace

Last accident I had, waiting for a green light, another car hit me in the back. My car became total loss and the seat belt saved my life.

Sorry for the unfortunate situation you're going through now.

Completely thankful the belt saved your life. Seriously hope your comment and my post encourage others from the potential pain of a preventable loss.

a reply to: EternalSolace

Sorry for your loss ...

Sometimes our Dad's know best and can't be told.

He is at rest now, whilst you are left with the aftermath.
Not fair - just the way it went down of his own valuation.

Don't beat yourself up, just enjoy the good memories.

Again sorry for your loss.

originally posted by: EternalSolace
When you get into your car... for work, for travel, for the 300 yard trip to buy a 12 pack of mountain dew from the shell station... Buckle up. If you get into a vehicle, yourself and every passenger needs a seat belt.

I lost my father Wednesday morning because of his stubbornness against wearing a seat belt. For years, I always asked him to wear a seat belt. His stubbornness over the years finally cost him his life and another 20+ years of having him in our lives.

Through my family's sorrow and despair...

Please folks... fasten that seat belt. No matter where you are going. No matter what you are doing. Buckle the belt. Had my father done so, he'd be here on the other end of the phone call I can never make again...

EMT/ER Team member here. Thank you for posting this and you have my condolances.

We have a couple ways to deal with fatalities when we get 'em:

1.We can scrape you off all the windows, seats, floorboards, ceiling etc in splatters and chunks 'n pieces...
or....
2. We can cut you out pretty much intact if bags deploy and your belt was on...
or....
3. We can pick up your remains from 20' down the road when you are thrown from a wreak due to not being belted in...

The choice is yours... And hopefully you wont have an accident in the 1st place...

Its not fun to recover children in pieces due to no seatbelt or carseats*

*Here in Michigan, State law is anyone in the rear seats or sections over 18 is not required to be belted in... But it saves lives so....

O. P.? Thanks for posting and sorry for your loss.

M. S. /Adv.Life.Supp.

Sorry for your loss. Might I suggest people carry some type of seatbelt cutter/knife as many have also died wearing one due to being trapped. You cannot unhook it if there is tension on it. (hanging upside down, etc)

Yeah, we need to buckle up now, people are busy on their cell phones when driving and don't see things ahead of them as often these days. I buckle up because I do not want to get another seat belt ticket.

I have seen many accidents where the people would be better off if not buckled in. It is not good to be T-boned if you have a seat belt on. Most cops will tell you that. Also if you flip the car and it crushes the roof, the shoulder harness will not let you get pushed down into the seat to escape the crashing roof down onto your head.


I used to not wear a seat belt in town because of the risk of getting rammed in the door and getting hurt worse, but now buckle up all the time. Our vehicles are higher than a car, so if the majority of people run into us, they hit lower and probably will not push in the doors in most cases. Two people just lately got T-boned and died, they probably were buckled up and weren't able to be pushed over on the seat by the impact.

I do not condemn people for buckling or not buckling up, it is their right, the cops love giving seat belt tickets though. They got those dash cams and can see you putting on your seatbelt when you get stopped.

I do not know the circumstances of the accident, so I cannot say what your father should have done, I have good hindsight.

originally posted by: rickymouse
I do not know the circumstances of the accident, so I cannot say what your father should have done, I have good hindsight.

He drove an armored car vehicle. Kentucky State Police said that he had hydroplaned and over corrected resulting in him running off the road, down a 10ft embankment. There was nothing really to injure him outside of the trauma of bouncing against the cab of the truck during the incident. The accident scene photos shows that he was on a straight part of a country road. I seriously believe he was trying to avoid another vehicle. He drove armored vehicles for over 30 years. A straight up hydroplane should have been simple to get out of on a straight stretch of road. Let off the gas and glide through it. But as the company he worked for had no dash cams, I'll never know for sure. I drive a semi and have experienced many a hydroplane. I could be reading too much into it, or looking for something to blame, who knows.

But the simple fact that a seat belt could've prevented the massive blunt force trauma to the head that was my father's demise... I was an EMT for 9 years. I know the statistics, the odds, the many angles of a collision in which a seat belt becomes a hindrance.

Those unlikely circumstances pale in comparison to the examples in which a seat belt saved a life.

originally posted by: Quadlink
So sorry for you..

Back in 1990 i was 26 and crashed my car without a seat belt, i was ejected into some trees and broke my neck in 3 places, fractured pelvis etc. And a lot of head injuries.

i suffer a lot of pain in my old age, here is a picture of my face.

i have uploaded the pic but seem unable to see it ?

anyone ?


ok so i have got it as a background on my avatar.... brilliant !

Goodgrief man, that looks like a nightmare. I'm thankful you are still here to share with us your experience and subsequent warning.

a reply to: EternalSolace

Driving an armored car he would have little chance of having a side impact event that would crush him, those things are pretty tough. Maybe he did not feel right wearing a seat belt, some people get a little off when they are confined, I know people who have actual doctors excuses because the belts press on something like a hernia repair which causes pain. I have a hernia repair and can't wear a belt so I wear bibs most all the time but where mine is I can wear a seat belt, if it was on the other side, It might be more of a problem. I do not think that someone driving an armored truck is required to buckle up, it used to be that if you had commercial vehicles the law was different, like people in buses do not need to buckle up.

But, you are right, in the type of accident he was in, seatbelts might have saved him.

originally posted by: rickymouse
a reply to: EternalSolace

Driving an armored car he would have little chance of having a side impact event that would crush him, those things are pretty tough. Maybe he did not feel right wearing a seat belt, some people get a little off when they are confined, I know people who have actual doctors excuses because the belts press on something like a hernia repair which causes pain. I have a hernia repair and can't wear a belt so I wear bibs most all the time but where mine is I can wear a seat belt, if it was on the other side, It might be more of a problem. I do not think that someone driving an armored truck is required to buckle up, it used to be that if you had commercial vehicles the law was different, like people in buses do not need to buckle up.

He's a very large guy, just like I am. He was never comfortable, physically, with a seat belt over him. In his personal vehicle or his work vehicle. Year after years I always asked him to start wearing it. He was so stubborn!

Kentucky state law requires all drivers, commercial and private, to wear a seat belt. His company policy also required one.

It was his stubbornness that did him in.

a reply to: EternalSolace

All tragedies are awful and the avoidable ones seem much, much worse. Sorry for your loss.

a reply to: EternalSolace

so sorry to read this, I send my kindest thoughts to you and family. i feel naked without a seatbelt on, same riding a motorcycle without a helmet, but again, my kindest thoughts.

a reply to: EternalSolace

Thanks mate.. ye i have had a few bad bike accidents too..... maybe i was never any good but thought i was lol

All the best mate

I've been in several car accidents and wasn't wearing a seat belt in any of them. I'm not bragging or saying seat belts don't save lives.

I was rear ended twice both cars totaled and I wasn't wearing a seat belt.

I was T-Boned by a car after I ran a red light. The other car was going 50 mph. It practically ripped my car in half. I wasn't wearing a seat belt in that accident either.

I was coming back from long fishing trip late at night and I fell a sleep at the wheel. I went off the freeway and the car rolled twice. I walked away with just some minor cuts from glass. Wasn't wearing a seat belt then either.

I have been wearing my seat belt for the past 15 years. I was pretty reckless in my younger years. Back in the 90's it wasn't mandatory in my state to wear seat belts. I guess I just got lucky back then.