In the newspaper when I read about auto accidents, they mention seatbelts in cases where they were beneficial or would have been beneficial. Less than
3/4 mile down the road, an 18 year old boy was burned alive because he couldn't get out of his seatbelt, however there was no mention of this in any newspaper or TV news reports. They just said he died in an automobile accident and it was "under investigation". This boy called his mother on a cell phone, and a man trying to free him got 3rd degree burns trying to undo the seat belt. These things didn't make the news...
Chances are pretty good if he burned alive, the reason he couldn't get out of his seatbelt is that he was very badly injured by the crash.
So then your "because he couldn't get out of his seatbelt" is nothing more than speculation.
Seems to me the investigation is ongoing. Seems to me also that your personal bias is such that any individual statistical outlier that supports your view will mean more than the overall benefits of seat belts. I understand; most of the people we have to rescue due to injuries feel the same way you do.
About 10 years ago, I had a collision with a moving train. Thanks to my seatbelt (and a lot of luck such as hitting the wheel of the train), I was able to walk away from the accident with a couple of bruises.
No one in your area carries a good sharp knife, preferably one with a serrated edge?
One of the reasons I carry several, and have a couple in the console etc.
Gunner
"If thy pride is sorely vexed when others disparage your offering, be as lamb's wool is to cold rain and the Gore-tex of Odin's raiment is to gullshit in the gale, for thy angst shall vex them not at all. Yea, they shall scorn thee all the more. Rejoice in sharing what you have to share without expectation of adoration, knowing that sharing your treasure does not diminish your treasure but enriches it."
I can't see how this could be considered "censored news". This would be more like unreported news. I doubt very seriously that someone forbad the news people from reporting the fact about the seat-belt. I very seldom wear a seat-belt unless I'm traveling some distance on a open highway. I'm just to lazy. Never-the-less, it has been demonstrated numerous times that in most cases seat belts save lives and worse injury in most accidents. Both Police and news people are well aware of this, and, of coarse, push their own agenda.
Funny thing around here at least. Children are touted to be our most valuable asset. It is said by every politition that they deserve to be protected from harm at any cost. Seatbelts are required to restrain them in personal vehicles but seatbelts are not required in the many school buses that haul the kids to school and back every day. The excuse is that it would be a hardship on the schoolbus owners, both private and district, to mandate the retrofing of seatbelts.Do as I say, not as I do or it's OK to require something as long as I don't have to do it, too.
Seatbelts on school busses have been discussed and debated since at least the early 60's. They have, in a few places, been tried, but have never been required. There are many reasons for this, but the notion it would be a "hardship" on the bus owners is not one of them, at least not in most states. The simple fact is that, on a passenger-mile basis (the only fair way to look at it), school busses are extremely safe. Accidents in which seat belts would make a significant difference in injuries are very rare. But the problems with them are very real:
School kids commonly range in size from three foot, 40 lb. kindergarten kids to 6' 4" 250 lb. seniors. Trying to come up with a seat belt system that safely accomodates all sizes is damned near impossible. School busses are rated at 3 kids per seat (six per row). The only way to effectively use seat belts would be to go to motorcoach style seats (four passengers per row) which would decrease the capacity of the bus by a third. This would, of course, increase operational costs by a half.
Enforcing seat belt use on a large bus would drive the driver absolutly nuts. And, of course, there would be the ongoing fracases over tangled belts, etc.
Probably the biggest problem is the issue of kids getting tangled in/tripped by the belts resulting in falls and the insuimg injuries.
Significant gains in school bus safety can be acheived by installing high backed seats with the back sides padded. But these make it harder for the driver to observe what is going on in the back of the bus and therefore make it much more difficult to keep order on the bus. So, there is a trade-off there.
But the bottom line is, there is no significant payoff in reduced number and seriousness of injuries from the use of seatbelts in school (or other) busses as there is in automobiles.
Seatbelts have a metal to metal release unlike the older ones that would grab onto the nylon strap. There have been many instances where the loose end of the old type belt would melt causing it to not pass through the buckle.
I think there was an AD (airworthyness directive)on all aircraft to remove all the older type belts and replace them with the metal to metal buckles.
In most of the states that require seat belt usage school buses are fitted with belts. I know all the ones in NY are. The problem then is getting the kids to wear them. Because of parents and current rules the driver is hamstrung, they cannot yell at the kid or hook the belt themselves.
I was trapped in my car for a while once when a frigging penny that slipped out of my hand from paying for a burger at a drive in lodged between the top and frame. It was the old steel buckle type where you pulled the top through 90 degrees to release the tab. The penney would not let me rotate the top more than a few degrees.
Actually, the reason I've understood, is that the mass of the schoolbus is such that the forces imparted in a collision are considerably less than those in a car of a similar collision.
And because bus seats/windows are tall enough to keep them reasonably well surrounded in an accident.
The unfortunate thing is that while a bus does very well in vehicle-vehicle accidents (the other vehicle takes all the damage), in a rollover or striking a stationary solid object the bus safety goes down some.
I suppose we all do that. But this was a case where I leaned over, the glasses started to slip off, I automatically tried to push them back on, and ouch!
I've had to wear corrective lenses for most of my life. I am convinced that they have saved my eyesight many times. Playing with metal, pnematics, wood working, firearms and mountain biking has left my eyes in the path of something unexpected too many times.
The wife, back when I was married, convinced me to get contacts since she liked me w/o glasses. Of course I immediately needed sunglasses, safety glasses and caught crap in my eyes when I least expected it. It didn't take long to abandon contacts.
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