Seatbelt issue . .. AIBU

I agree, tell her it upset you and be cool for a while till she gets the message. Or just ghost her. She’s not your type of person.

it is a legal requirement to wear a seat belt unless you are exempt. the driver is not responsible for adults but he is responsible for ensuring children are belted up. The announcement on the coaches is that if involved in an accident the insurance is not valid

Everyone should belt up, the driver should insist on it. I wouldn’t feel comfortable in a car with anyone who didn’t wear their seat belt.

Mind you, it always strikes me as odd that coaches have seat belts and buses do not, yet one gets thrown around a lot. I do not that our local buses do not set off until passengers have found a seat. Almost. You may be almost seated but not quite. There is still quite a lurch as the bus sets off.

It’s similar ‘logic’ to those who refuse to wear face covering to prevent the spread of COVID.

I understand that some insurance companies will invalidate your car insurance if your dog doesn’t wear a doggy seat belt.

I have just noticed that this thread has woke up! So, I’ll give an update. I didn’t fall out is friend, I just made other arrangements for getting home, sometimes leaving before her to avoid taxi issue.

Anyone else see the correlation between this refusal to wear a seatbelt and how some people deal with the virus?

Ah I see someone got there before me ?

Interestingly taxi drivers themselves are exempt from seat belt laws.

To add a bit more, this friend did have quite absolute views of so many things that there was no point in discussing with her. Unfortunately, not long after my original post she had a fall and due to complications died a few months later.

I have wondered if the problems I had with her were early signs of illness.

As far as the law in the UK goes taxi passengers must always wear seat belts
Not sure why this has resurfaced from 2018, but the law has not changed.
Licensed taxi drivers carrying passengers or ‘plying for hire’ don’t have to wear seatbelts. The reason behind this unusual law is to protect taxi drivers from being attacked – it’s thought that a seat belt could be used to hold the driver down in their seat.
Another reason is that it simply makes it easier for taxi drivers to move in and out of their vehicle to assist passengers.

Just seen update*Sweetie222*; so very sorry that your friend died, but glad that you found a way to be safe and remain friends while she was still here

M0nica

Anniebach how dreadful and you were so young at the time.

I come to this from the other end. DH's insistence on seatbelts and child restraints, long before they were common, let alone compulsory, saved our lives when a drunken driver turned out of a side road without looking, forced DH to break violently, swerve off the road and into a hedge.

DH and I were wearing seatbelts and our 9 month old son was in the back in one of the early Britax child seats. Without DH's care, DS would have been on my lap in the front and my unrestrained journey through the windscreen would have killed both of us.

A friend who talked and acted as this lady did, would be a friend no more

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Reported

Reported

snap!! Trisha57

Dated 4 years ago

Sweetie222

I know that it is law that people in the back seat need to wear a belt, which didn't concern this person at all. I think the bigger issue is that I asked her and she dismissed my concerns.

That's the bit that bothered me about your post. After pointing out the danger she posed, she was completely indifferent - "it won't happen, but if it did, it did" - to the possibility that she could've caused serious injury to you or the driver... or even worse.

She's entitled to take a fatalistic attitude about her own life, but not yours - nor anyone else's.

I'd be dropping her as a friend immediately, not because I'm a goody-goody about obeying the Law but because she sounds like a completely self-absorbed individual - and completely lacking in common sense. You just don't say things like that to other people. Jeez.

<<< note to self >>>

... remember to look at the date of the OP to avoid getting into a tizzy about something that happened years ago

Sometimes, I really do belong to the ranks of 'the plonker'.

Message deleted by Gransnet. Here's a link to our Talk guidelines.

mabon1

The driver can be prosecuted. That woman is a fool.

The driver is only responsible for children under 14.

I was a volunteer hospital car driver 3 days a week for 10 years. My car would ping if the seat belts were not used, and so would allow me to say, are you having problems shutting your seat belt ? I can come and do it for you if you need some help. Only had one person state that they would not wear one and did not have a letter which excused them from wearing one , and I simply turned the engine off and said I am afraid I am not allowed to take you unless you use your seat belt. If you dont use it I am unable to take you to your appointment this morning. He huffed an puffed a bit but put it on. On the way back he again got in without putting his belt on and I asked if he wanted to come with me or would he like directions to the nearest bus stop. As he lived over 40 miles from the hospital, he begrudgingly and with much muttering put it on, then a little later took it off, but of course my dashboard showed that it was not on and it pinged so I just pulled up and turned the engine off and said not a word, just sat there. Another passenger asked why have we stopped? I replied we are waiting for Mr X and he huffed a bit but put it back on and I switched the engine on and without a word carried on! Regarding the person who would not wear a seat belt with you, you could either wait until it happened again and then either appeal to the driver, to explain the law to her, or say I am sorry I will have to go on my own and get out. alternatively you could preempt that by when you next see her saying in a reasonable tone, how sorry you are that you will not be able to travel together any more, but you will be happy to walk with her when that is convenient. That way you show your determination not to be in such a situation again, but leave it up to her to make her own mind up

I used to drive people to e.g. hospital appointments. When one elderly woman was having trouble fastening her seat belt, I said I’d do it for her.
‘No, it’s all right - I’ll just hold it.’

I didn’t know whether to 😂or 😱!
Of course I fastened it anyway.

Oh dear mabon1. Had you read the thread you’d see that ‘the fool’ died and the OP lost her friend!

This thread is 7 years old and the friend has died, see update on page 6, from the original poster!