Seatbelt issue . .. AIBU

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<<< 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'.

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.

Dated 4 years ago

snap!! Trisha57

Reported

Reported

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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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

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.

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.

Interestingly taxi drivers themselves are exempt from seat belt laws.

Ah I see someone got there before me ?

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

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.

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.

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.

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.

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

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.

Boyfriend and I many years ago were travelling on narrow country roads when he missed the bend n rolled the car over and over and over. No seatbelt then as nobody had them. Luckily he got trapped between the steering wheel and car door as it rolled. I was thrown all over the car, covered in bruises and cut by the inside mirror. If he hadn't been trapped and held still it would have been a different story. He had 2 cracked ribs.
A seatbelt would have stopped these injuries.
Keep your friend life's too short for enemies but don't travel with her in a car again xx

The seat belts on most coaches that only go across your lap and not your shoulder are more dangerous than nothing at all. However if they are fitted with the proper seat belts I think you gave to wear them

Ooops, just noticed the date of the OP - guess the OPer isn't checking replies anymore! Still maybe worth discussing though.

Somewhere there's a video illustrating graphically what can happen if a car is hit from behind and a passenger is unbelted. It's very graphic, but basically that passenger becomes a missile and puts the other (belted) passenger at risk of very serious injury. I would try to find the link, but it's very upsetting, so I'll leave it to those who choose to see it to do so. It's on YouTube.

She’s very silly, taxi driver should have refused to drive off unless she wore one