Me, always. Other New Mexico drivers?..about 60% of the time. TV news frequently shows pickup and SUV roll overs with dead unbelted passengers scattered around the car. Sadly they are often teenagers and kids. Wife's friend lost their son to a 35MPH roll over. All friends in car belted and bruised. but their unbelted son crushed dead under the car. Mom and dad still drive unbelted.
I always wear a seat belt when I'm inside any vehicle that has one. The irony is that the one ticket I've gotten in the last 25 years had $20 tacked on it because for some reason I took the belt off after I stopped and before the cop got to my door...and of course he didn't believe me when I told him I had the belt on.
It goes on before the vehicle is backed/driven out of the driveway. I did an OPP seat belt test (Ontario Provincial Police) years ago at a car show and it was enough to convince me!
I sat in a small seat they had made up and they released me to a top speed of 2 to 5 kms/miles per hour (I forget exactly?) and when that came to a very sudden/complete stop, I could feel the seatbelt dig into my shoulder and my body wanting to be propelled forward.
It was an eye opener for my buddy and I and we haven't looked back since.
Originally Posted By: old1
100% as many others have said. There were no seat belts when I was young of course. My 65 mustang only has lap belts, as well as my64 ranchero. And my model A doesn't have any, and probably never will, but then it never goes over 30 mph and never out of our small town. But the lack of really good brakes is probably more of a concern.
From memory but weren't there studies about twenty years ago that lap only belts presented a real risk of abdominal injury?
Public roads, 100%
Ranch roads under 20mph, 0%, always getting gates and moving stuff off the road.
Ranch roads over 20mph, not sure, don't go that fast!
100% I buckle up without even thinking about it, feels weird not to. Also, sometimes when I park, I forget to unbuckle and try get out with the seatbelt still on.
Always wear one as well as the girlfriend. When I started driving, my grandfather who was a volunteer fire fighter, told me stories about accident scenes he went to where people weren't wearing a seat belt. Some pretty grusome details involved and that was enough to convince me to always wear one.