Creepy

[1990lumina]

Nah I'm with Shawn on this......I think the door mounted belts are the stupidiest, (yet convient) thing ever put in these cars. One thing that would piss me off about the B pillar mounted belts are you have to reach back so damn much to get the belt. Then after it's on, the agle at which the belt is at I find digs into my neck, etc.....my mom's Acura is terrible when it comes to the seat belts mounted......they are a BITCH to reach.

 

 

[Psych0matt]

i like them, although if i ever get into a rollover or anything im probably dead anyways

[1990lumina]

I used to joke to my friends that if we crashed hard the seatbelts don't work anyway, so we're pretty much fucked. Honestly though.....I dunno how that passive restriant system works, but my belts don't catch and lock no matter how quickly you pull on them....oh well.....won't stop me from driving my car, but I do think about "what if"?

[White93z34]

i personally, do not like my door mounted seatbelts. they are quirky and sometimes a pain.

 

and according to my owners manual they should remain buckled all the time, and somehow you should be able to get in and out of the car fine. i tried that and about got myself tangled in the belts. and what it boils down to is, a way of not putting air bags in a car because it would have cost alot more.

 

however, i've seen more wrecked w-cars then i care to admit to. when i worked at the scrapyard i saw all sorts of crazy things, a few noteables were

 

1990 Lumina base: rollover, had to have been multiple times, alll the doors were still shut and some unopenable from the impacts. from what i was told everyone walked away.

 

and one particularly distubing van i saw was a mid 1990s caravan, that was stolen, chased then rolled. and slid on the side into a tree, it hit on the roof right on the front seat area the front seat was almost kissing the dashboard. and the roof was crushed down onto the seatback. had the thief been wearing a seatblet he would have had a steering wheel through the chest, instead he was thrown clear and survived with minor injuries.

 

a friend of mine is a firefighter, he was called to a scene of a auto wreck with some kids in their firebird, they wanted to see how fast they could get it going, and forgot about a bend, hit something very stationary at lord knows how fast, they were thrown clear of the wreck because they had no seatbelts on, and the dashboard was in the front seat, so once again the seatblets would have killed them, had they been wearing them.

 

are some of these exreme circumstances, yes. but another thing to consider is that to roll a car you almost always have to be doing something prety damn careless. i'd like to think that the likelyhood of my doors coming open in a wreck is prety nil considering i'd have to be doing something prety retarted to get myself in a situation like that.

 

i'm not trying to disagree with shawn but, i feel that you'd have to be doing something prety retarted to get the doors to open.

[5speedz34]

 

 

are some of these exreme circumstances, yes. but another thing to consider is that to roll a car you almost always have to be doing something prety damn careless. i'd like to think that the likelyhood of my doors coming open in a wreck is prety nil considering i'd have to be doing something prety retarted to get myself in a situation like that.

 

i'm not trying to disagree with shawn but, i feel that you'd have to be doing something prety retarted to get the doors to open.

 

That's kinda what I was trying to say.

 

But remember you're only as safe as the biggest idiiot on the road.

[brianhasadd]

[kisses his pillar mounted belts]

 

X2

[GnatGoSplat]

I spose I can see where you are coming from, but I'm older than you AND my son drives my '94 all the time, and all of this never even crosses my mind. I mean it's terrifying to think about, but it isn't going to control my life, or what kind of cars I like to drive. You may be overreacting just a bit. What REALLY are the odds?

 

Oh, I'm sure I'm overreacting, I'm a chronic worrier. It's actually crossed my mind many times before in the past, even when I first got my Cutlass 12yrs ago. I've just never seen my suspicions confirmed. It's one of those things where ignorance is bliss. There is no question in my mind the only thing worse than these seatbelts is no belts at all. In my Google searches, there are many people who won't touch a car with door-mounted belts, and if I didn't already own these cars, knowing what I know now, I'd be joining them. I don't like taking risks, even if the odds are in my favor. Odds are in my favor that I can jack up the car without using jackstands and it's not going to fall on me. Odds are in my favor that I can neglect to wear a seatbelt at all and not get in a wreck in the next 10yrs. Odds are in my favor that I can leave the doors unlocked in my neighborhood and no one will ever break in. However, I don't do any of those things either.

 

I used to joke to my friends that if we crashed hard the seatbelts don't work anyway, so we're pretty much fucked. Honestly though.....I dunno how that passive restriant system works, but my belts don't catch and lock no matter how quickly you pull on them....oh well.....won't stop me from driving my car, but I do think about "what if"?

 

Actually, in my Google searches, I found a few websites on things to look for in a used car actually said to avoid cars with door mounted belts because the belts don't work well in general. So becoming unbelted when the door opens isn't the only reason why they suck.

 

are some of these exreme circumstances, yes. but another thing to consider is that to roll a car you almost always have to be doing something prety damn careless. i'd like to think that the likelyhood of my doors coming open in a wreck is prety nil considering i'd have to be doing something prety retarted to get myself in a situation like that.

 

Sure, most of the time a car rolls due to carelessness or risky driving, but it's not always up to you. Another car could force you off the road. It's never my own driving that I worry about, like everyone else, I think I'm a damn good driver!

 

But remember you're only as safe as the biggest idiiot on the road.

 

Exactly. There are a LOT of idiot drivers out there. My wife is always telling me stories about the close calls she's had with some idiot driver, or the close calls she's witnessed. I'm sure I've had a lot of close calls myself too. Could be that one of these days, one of these close calls hits close to home. I don't know about other places, but running red lights is a big problem in this area, one which they always talk about in the news.

 

[SigEpCutlass]

As disconcerning as the info in this topic is, I've gotta agree that I still feel secure driving my W.

[brianhasadd]

As disconcerning as the info in this topic is, I've gotta agree that I still feel secure driving my W.

 

Me to. Even though that still won't make me want to wear my seatbelt.

[SigEpCutlass]

As disconcerning as the info in this topic is, I've gotta agree that I still feel secure driving my W.

 

Me to. Even though that still won't make me want to wear my seatbelt.

Why in the hell wouldn't you wear it!?! Why do you think they're there in the first place?!?

[brianhasadd]

I've never worn it and I won't wear it. My sister and her husband got in a wreck about a year ago and they both had their seatbelts on and they both got thrown from the car. So let me ask you the same question...Why do you think they're there in the first place?!?

[GnatGoSplat]

I've never worn it and I won't wear it. My sister and her husband got in a wreck about a year ago and they both had their seatbelts on and they both got thrown from the car. So let me ask you the same question...Why do you think they're there in the first place?!?

 

Wow, no offense, but this is really dumb logic. Just because your sister and her husband's seatbelts failed, doesn't mean they all fail! If you don't wear your seatbelt, you're GUARANTEEING that you WILL be thrown from the car in a wreck. 3 out of 4 people thrown from a car are dead on the scene, and the 1 person that survives is critically injured. I can't even believe those stats are accurate, because every time I go through those police reports, it looks to me more like everyone thrown from the car dies.

 

Trust me, it is COMPLETELY STUPID not to wear a seatbelt. Many of those police reports show that often in the SAME CAR that the belted people survive with MINOR injuries while the non-belted person suffers SEVERE or FATAL injuries.

 

[brianhasadd]

I understand what you are saying and I'm not mad or anything..I'm just saying that I don't wear it and I'll never wear it. The only time I put it on is when I get pulled over for something and the cop is walking up to my car. I don't want to get a ticket for it so I throw it on real quick. Other than that..I'd rather just cut it out of my car.

[SigEpCutlass]

I've never worn it and I won't wear it. My sister and her husband got in a wreck about a year ago and they both had their seatbelts on and they both got thrown from the car. So let me ask you the same question...Why do you think they're there in the first place?!?

 

Ouch I'm sorry to hear about your loss Brian, but I've gotta agree with Shawn's logic. That's how I think too. If it's there and designed to protect me from harm, I'm going to use it.

[GnatGoSplat]

Well, if the sicko that reads police reports can't convince you, I guess there's no convincing you!

 

It's rather interesting how differently people think. Here I am worrying my seatbelts aren't good enough, and some people are not just neglecting to wear theirs, they outright refuse to wear it! Wow.

 

[sl3196]

Not wearing a seatbelt is stupid!

[ToroToro]

Yeah, but I'll admit that I dont wear mine at all unless I'm on the freeway. I feel fairly safe everywhere else, and I've survived numerous accidents without one. A couple of them were pretty bad too. Maybe that's why I'm not very concerned about where they are mounted.

[GnatGoSplat]

Yeah, but I'll admit that I dont wear mine at all unless I'm on the freeway. I feel fairly safe everywhere else, and I've survived numerous accidents without one. A couple of them were pretty bad too. Maybe that's why I'm not very concerned about where they are mounted.

 

If you don't wear it anywhere else, what's the point of wearing it on the freeway? Statistically, you're less likely to get into an accident on the freeway!

 

[Pontiac6KSTEAWD]

I personally like the door mounted belts on my TGP. They are easy to get to, and lock way to easily. However, I have a problem buying a new car. And I am forced forever into buying old cars for at least the next 20 years, or at least rebuilding the ones I have. My wife CAN NOT drive a vehicle that has a airbag. By federal law, you have to be at least 4'10" tall to sit in the front seat, under that you have to be in the back seat in a booster seat. She is 4'10 1/2" tall, which means not only is she just barely legal to drive a vehicle at all (how do midgets/dwarfs do it?), but that because of her height she sits so close to the steering wheel, she has a choice. Be crushed by a airbag, or get impaled by the steering wheel.

 

The law dictates that if we buy a newer/new vehicle with airbags, that we get a waiver from the state, in which we can have the car taken to any dealer, and have a shunt installed to turn off the airbags. We have this waiver, but we cant find a dealer that is willing to install this shunt. They say it puts them into a legal situation that they dont want to be involved in. So now what do we do?

 

The 89 AWD has the b-pillar mounted seatbelts, and the TGP is door mounted. She feels safe in both vehicles, and frankly, so do I. However, we all know these cars wont last forever. One of the reasons I am trying to buy this truck... http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1,1&item=4638001978. I just think it is overpriced.

[GnatGoSplat]

The law dictates that if we buy a newer/new vehicle with airbags, that we get a waiver from the state, in which we can have the car taken to any dealer, and have a shunt installed to turn off the airbags. We have this waiver, but we cant find a dealer that is willing to install this shunt. They say it puts them into a legal situation that they dont want to be involved in. So now what do we do?

 

Why can't you just pull the airbag fuse? The airbag light will stay on, but you can remove the bulb or tape over the LED, whichever it may be.

 

[Pontiac6KSTEAWD]

There is actually a law against that too because of the people that buy, repair, and sell, salvage vehicles.

[GnatGoSplat]

Yeah, but no cop is going to pull you over for speeding and proceed to check your fusebox to make sure the AIRBAG fuse is still intact!

Just buy what you want and pull the fuse. Put it back when you sell the car. If you don't want to disable the passenger airbag, you can just unplug the yellow connector at the base of the column to disable the driver side.

 

[digitaloutsider]

Yeah, but I'll admit that I dont wear mine at all unless I'm on the freeway. I feel fairly safe everywhere else, and I've survived numerous accidents without one. A couple of them were pretty bad too. Maybe that's why I'm not very concerned about where they are mounted.

 

If you don't wear it anywhere else, what's the point of wearing it on the freeway? Statistically, you're less likely to get into an accident on the freeway!

 

My friend Allen has that same logic. I can't get over how stupid it is. Your chances of getting into an accident on the interstate is VERY slim compared to a normal two or four lane highway. I put on my seatbelt the second I get into my car. Sure, there's the 1 in 10,000 chance that you could be thrown from the car in an accident and survive, but I don't like those odds. Secondly, even if you have this "I DO NUT WEER SEET BELTS!1!!1" mentality, but you have to ride with me.. you WILL wear your safety belt. I'm not getting charged with manslaughter just because I survived a simple car wreck and you were too stupid/lazy/both to take 3 seconds out of your oh-so-busy schedule to fasten your seat belt and had a nice face-first encounter with the 180 MPH airbag.

[ToroToro]

I dont have that mentality. It's not anything about being a hardass or looking cool. It's just the fact that I have NEVER worn seatbelts. Some of the cars my parents had didn't even have seatbelts, nor did my first car.

 

The only way I can explain the freeway logic is that at 75-80 MPH, I'm pretty uptight and the seatbelt makes me feel much better. The rest of the roads around here are either deserted or 30 MPH suburbs, and I'm really not worried about an accident there. Because even if I had one, it would be minor compared to barrel rolls at 70+. I have seen people do some DUMB shit on the freeway.

 

 

 

 

[5speedz34]

First thing, here in Michigan IIRC everyone in the car has to wear their seatbelt. The law was passed a few years ago.

 

Second, if I don't wear mine, I really do feel naked in the car. It is very securing having it on. Mostly because when I was in 8th grade I was riding shotgun in a Dodge Caravan that was rear ended by a Blazer. We where at a dead stop and went into a tree. If I didn't have a seatbelt on not only would the airbag have taken me out but I probably would've gone through the window. So yeah, I wear them all the time.