magoo_ns wrote:

A tough, tough issue.
Someone posted that there are no arguments against seat belts. I lost
a friend, burned alive in a car while hanging upside down from his
seat belt which he could not get undone. He might argue that point if
he could.

Tough break for your friend. My sympathies. He spun the wheel and ended
up in the 1% of accidents that result in fires and the tiny % of
seatbelts that won't release. If he hadn't been wearing the seatbelt he
might have been killed outright or rendered unconscious by the impact,
which in a sad way, would have been better.

Another friend lost his brother in a single motorcycle accident. The
Bell full-face he was wearing broke his neck when he landed in the
ditch and he suffocated by the side of the road. His family doctor
made the mistake of telling this to my friend, who had given his
brother that helmet as a birthday gift. He might be inclined to argue
for choice also.

The impact with the ground broke his neck, not the helmet. I haven't
seen many family doctors who are also accident scene investigation
specialists, so I'd say the old doc is just incredibly insensitive at best.

That said, I ALWYAS wear my helmet when riding, ALWAYS wear my
seatbelt when driving, and ALWAYS wear my pfd when paddling. I've seen
and heard about too many deaths that prove the rule rather than the
exception.

Me, too. Betting your life against high odds is, IMO, foolish.

--
Steve Cramer
Athens, GA