Re: IML: classic car safety

[Christopher H <imperial67@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Folks, this kind of statement is, please pardon the bluntness, absurd.

You could get hit by a Honda Civic at the right speed and angle and end up
quite seriously injured or dead. Seat belts, even lap belts, help restrain
you in the vehicle and help reduce the chances or severity of your striking
a hard interior surface.

To suggest ³you¹ll be fine,² especially in a car with a non-collapsible
steering column such as any pre-67 Imperial, is irresponsible and has no
basis in fact.

You might not like seat belts (or laws) but driving is indeed a privilege,
the cost of insurance and injury is shared to some degree by all motorists,
and making the lives of the dedicated civil servants who¹ll have to help you
or scrape you off the hood after you pass through the (not yet broken until
you hit it) windshield easier are all responsibilities we share.

Even the most purist of car shows (such as Pebble Beach) allow for seat
belts to be retrofitted into older cars without penalty in scoring. Must be
a good reason for it... Maybe because they work?

Vehicle weight alone does not determine the outcome of an accident. Your car
might have fewer dents, but dents are not what cause injury. What you hit,
and what your vital internal bits hit (and how) determines if you live or
die. So why not stack the odds in your favor and wear seat belts.

When I was a toddler, my mom got into a horrific wreck in our ?63 F*rd that
included multiple rollovers. Believe it or not, we had lap belts in that car
and mother actually made my brother and I wear them, as did she. We¹re all
still here to be grateful she never believed foolish advice like ³you won¹t
need them, you¹ll be fine² because she thought our car was sturdy. The car
probably was sturdy in its day. But we certainly were not. And yet we all
pretty much walked away.

Seat belts work. That¹s not just my opinion. They might not save you in
every possible collision speed and type, but who says you¹re only going to
be hit head-on by a locomotive?

Chris in LA



>> In a message dated 8/3/2005 6:39:05 P.M. Eastern Standard Time,
>> daveford1@xxxxxxxxxxx writes:
>>
>> My 59  Imperial has retrofitted seat belts and I wear them, but the reality
>> is  that if I get hit by an F250 Truck at 65 the seat belts aren't going  to
>> be that much help.

> On 8/4/05 3:37 AM, Crestonave@xxxxxxx responded:
> 
> They may help the guy in the F250. You won't need them. You'll be fine.
>  
> Tom





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