http://jalopnik.com/361494/...earing-fake-seatbelt

quote Man Dies In Accident While Wearing Fake Seatbelt It seems that fate is indeed not without a sense of irony. A New Zealand man with a history of fines for 32 seatbelt violations died in a car accident last week. Death came as a result of injuries incurred when he struck the steering wheel after crossing the center line and colliding head on with an oncoming vehicle. The coroners report makes note of... a fake seatbelt which was installed in such a way as to be laid across the chest, thus fooling passing motorists and police into believing he was wearing the safety device properly. The coroner went on to say the likelihood of survival was quite high, had the man been using the ubiquitous restraint. We're left wondering two things. First, do you imagine the last thing through his mind was a realization of the necessity of seatbelts? And two, how high this fellow will be on the 2008 Darwin Awards nomination list.

With all that trouble to make a fake seatbelt, one would have guessed putting on a real one would have been faster?
I wonder if there is more to that story.
I would also love to see pictures of what the fake seatbelt contraption looks like.

You are not allowed to die!!! Wear your seat belt!!!!

I'd say he must get some consideration for the Darwin awards. Just shows you how stupid some can be. A fake seatbelt to avoid further fines? I just don't understand it. I don't find seat belts irritating in the least.... nor do I understand why you would go to such great lengths to fake wearing it instead of just wearing it.

You can't say death doesn't have a sense of irony!

The last thing through his mind was his buddholl as he hit the windshield. Kind of like a bug, but from inside the car.

.
From This news story:

quote Mr Segedin (the driver), 39, refused to wear a seatbelt and had been fined for not wearing one 32 times since February 2003. Examination of his car found that, though it was fitted with proper seatbelts, an additional belt with a long strap had been knotted above the seatbelt on the driver's side, providing a belt to simply sit over the driver's shoulder, Ms Nagara (the coroner) said. Presumably this was to create the illusion to a passing motorist or police officer that a seatbelt was being worn when it was not. Mr Segedin's car had an expired warrant, was full of rust, and an autopsy blood test showed he had taken methamphetamine and cannabis. But Ms Nagara said not wearing a seatbelt was the one variable that made the difference between life and death. "He died when quite possibly he need not have."

I have some fake compassion for this moron.

[This message has been edited by Patrick (edited 02-28-2008).]

quote First, do you imagine the last thing through his mind was a realization of the necessity of seatbelts?

I thought the last thing going through his mind was the steering wheel...

(sorry, couldn't resist)

LOL!

Glad he took himself out of the gene pool, lets hope he didn't procreate before hand.

'Mr Segedin's car had an expired warrant, was full of rust, and an autopsy blood test showed he had taken methamphetamine and cannabis. But Ms Nagara said not wearing a seatbelt was the one variable that made the difference between life and death. "He died when quite possibly he need not have."

No, he really need have. I'm surprised he made it that long.

My seat belt story…
I was born in 1972 and my family drove mostly Cadillac, full sized chevys or 3 ton trucks for the sod business.
No one ever wore seat belts.

When I was about 22 years old, a “friend” borrowed money from me to buy a 1972 chevy ¾ ton pickup. But never paid it back. So I repossessed the truck.

The rear leaf springs were so strong and the rear shocks were so worn out, that if I didn’t wear the “lap belt” I would be bounced out of the seat. I would hit my head on the roof, and I would loose my footing on the pedals.
So I just got in the habit of using the seat belt.

A few months later I got a job where the truck would have stood out so I traded it even up for a Dodge Daytona.
Within a few weeks I was in a collision with a semi on the highway.
The frontal impact was enough to crack the engine block and exploded the aluminum transmission case.
My garage door opener that was clipped to the sunvisor split into two parts. I never did find the circuit board that was inside of it.

There is no question that I would not be here had I not got in the habit of putting on my seat belt from that old POS truck.

Yeah it's funny how a near miss can make you think about wearing a belt. I was driving on an icy bridge in Michigan in January about 25 years ago, spun out the car, and nearly dived off an embankment. The car stopped just in time. After I stopped shaking and hyperventilating, I put my seat belt on. Been doing it ever since.

I learned to drive in a '69 Pontiac Catalina with a big engine and vinyl bench seat. Turning corners at high speeds, I had to put the belt on to keep me behind the wheel and not against the passenger door. Habit ever since.

[This message has been edited by Gokart Mozart (edited 02-29-2008).]

quote Originally posted by Fformula88: I'd say he must get some consideration for the Darwin awards. Just shows you how stupid some can be. A fake seatbelt to avoid further fines? I just don't understand it. I don't find seat belts irritating in the least.... nor do I understand why you would go to such great lengths to fake wearing it instead of just wearing it.

you are probably of normal size then. some shorter, some taller, and most FATTER people do in fact have troubles with seatbelts

every see a fatty dig for the latch in a unfamilear car? lol - its a treat. especially in things like a Fiero. they'll damn near snap the frame when they drop in

I guess I should go ahead and put the seatbelts in my Coronet....Just seems crappy to stick the bolts thru floor board holes in my brand new carpet. At least Im glad there are no shoulder belts.

I don't really blame them for enforcing seat belt laws. People do get sick of scraping others guts off the conrete/walls/cars because of the drivers stupidity.

Being 4'11" makes a seatbelt more like a "neckbelt". I used to hate wearing them, but have conceeded
so that I can set a good example for my daughter.

32 previous seat belt violations. It would be interesting to know how many were on residential streets. No one should be forced to wear a seat belt. I wonder how motorcyclists can ride with no helmet ?
Me, I wear mine when I want to. I will go to jail before I pay a seat belt fine. Some people do actually get thrown clear from a wreck and live just as some with seat belts die because they were trapped in the car. Yeah, I know...the odds. So now the gubment is picking our odds ?

quote Originally posted by InTheLead: People do get sick of scraping others guts off the conrete/walls/cars because of the drivers stupidity.

Then they need to get another job. How can they tell from the guts that stupidity played a part ?

Just a few storys I have. I had a 69 Lincoln Mark III a number of years ago. I didnt wear belts ever except racing. I was on the freeway going prob 70 mph when a couple of gals came on the entrance ramp and cut clear to the passing lane I was in. They bumped my front fender and sent me spinning. I hit a steel guardrail and bounced across the other way into a concrete overpass support. I just layed over in the seat as it was spinning. The hood and bumper came thru the windshield clear to the back seat. Wanna guess what woulda happened with a shoulder/ seat belt on. I didnt get a scratch.

In oklahoma, some friends from the base also not wearing any belts, lost control of a Fury convertible on the freeway, it flipped on the embankment throwing all 3 out into a field, another flip and the car plunged down the other side of the embankment prob about 100' into the Canadian River. None had a mark except for a few bruises.

I realize these are both exceptions, but just shows belts dont save your butt 100% of the time.

quote Originally posted by rogergarrison: I realize these are both exceptions, but just shows belts dont save your butt 100% of the time.

I don't think any of us has ever said they do. Nothing is guaranteed, nothing is for sure.

Having said that, my car doesn't move until everybody in it has buckled up. Anyone who doesn't like it can get out and walk.

quote Originally posted by InTheLead: I don't really blame them for enforcing seat belt laws. People do get sick of scraping others guts off the conrete/walls/cars because of the drivers stupidity.

I have always worn my belt, long before it was a law. ( my first car had a bench seat with lap belts, unconformable things they were ) I think its the right thing to do to protect yourself. I also make sure my son does too ( he's 13 ) anytime he's in the car with me.

However, i don't feel that its the government's business to mandate their use. Regulate them so they are consistently effective and available, sure, but not their use.

"Examination of his car found that, though it was fitted with proper seatbelts, an additional belt with a long strap had been knotted above the seatbelt on the driver's side, providing a belt to simply sit over the driver's shoulder, Ms Nagara (the coroner) said."



Wouldn't it have been just as easy to put on a REAL seat belt instead of slipping a FAKE one over his shoulder every time he got in the car?

Or was this another one of those drugged-up-control-freak-welfare-sponges trying to stick it to the man by demonstrating his free will?

Either way, he gets to spend eternity having to listen to people point at his pauper's grave and laugh out loud.

quote Originally posted by ryan.hess: You can't say death doesn't have a sense of irony!

Sure you can-but Death doesn't care.

(ever notice at accident scenes, they strap the deceased victims to their gurneys and not just the injured?)
now that's ironic

[This message has been edited by maryjane (edited 03-01-2008).]

quote Originally posted by Toddster: Or was this another one of those drugged-up-control-freak-welfare-sponges trying to stick it to the man by demonstrating his free will?

I dunn know. Me, I am not drugged up, not a control freak, not a welfare sponge, not a trying to stick it to any man, not trying to demonstrate my free will. I wear mine when I want to.

quote Originally posted by cliffw: I dunn know. Me, I am not drugged up, not a control freak, not a welfare sponge, not a trying to stick it to any man, not trying to demonstrate my free will. I wear mine when I want to.

As do most of us. Just today I drove by 3 cops in front of a house and just then realized I forgot to put on my belt.

But I doubt you went to the trouble to rig up a fake seatbelt as an "in your face" to cops that backfired on him...which is why this clown deserves the singling-out he is getting he is getting.

quote Originally posted by Toddster: But I doubt you went to the trouble to rig up a fake seatbelt as an "in your face" to cops that backfired on him...which is why this clown deserves the singling-out he is getting he is getting.

, you over estimate me, . I have bought a T shirt with a black diagonal stripe that looked like a shoulder strap. Not an "in your face" gesture but I did smirk with that feeling. Of course, how does one get 32 previous violations, , ?

I wear mine all the time. I don't relish the thought of being thrown against the airbag in a collision, because I wasn't wearing my seat belt. I prefer to stay as far away from explosive devices as I can. I learned my lesson in a bad crash when I was 21 and not wearing it then. This taught me that it would have been less expensive and painful to me, if I had been wearing one then.
Wearing my seatbelt would have saved me from a two broken feet, a dislocated foot, a split kneecap, a dislocated hip, 5 broken ribs, puntured lung, facial and hand lacerations, and multiple concussions. All of this happened at a speed of 40 MPHs head on into another vehicle doing the same speed. A seatbelt would have held my body back and would have helped prevent many of these painful injuries I suffered from my body slamming against the foot pedals, steering wheel, dash and windshield. I still walk with a limp to this day and the accident was 28 years ago.
Many years later I actually had another collison at the same speed, this time I broadsided a car that unexpectedly pulled out in front of me (I had the right of way as I was on the main road and he was pulling out of a driveway). I was wearing my seatbelt and didn't even get a scratch. The other car I hit ( a full size Delta 88) actually bent into a horse shoe shape. I could feel the seatbelt holding my body back during the collision, as the cars crumpled together.
I actually feel more secure with my seatbelt on while I drive a car. It's better to be wearing your seatbelt and not need it than to need it and not be wearing it. You can never tell when an accident might happen, that is why they are called accidents.

[This message has been edited by avengador1 (edited 03-02-2008).]

quote Originally posted by avengador1: I learned my lesson in a bad crash when I was 21 and not wearing it then.

I have been on both sides of the coin. I also believe that when it's your time to go, your gone.

Thurs in Ohio.

" Two womens bodies, seat belted in their seats were pulled from their submerged car after sliding off a bridge into the Scioto River......"

Dont get me wrong, I dont recommend either way...but like already said, it should be your choice. In bad weather I always do mine, if im going down the street a few blocks to several stores along the way, I usually dont bother. I figure the survival chances driving 70 mph on freeway are a little different than going 30 mph on an almost empty street.

[This message has been edited by rogergarrison (edited 03-02-2008).]