Boat seat belts

[peterbj7]

So a sort of benevolent dictator? Rather like the European Union.

 

[DandyDon]

So a sort of benevolent dictator? Rather like the European Union.

It's a multi-use, nondescript, slang term commonly used in debates when logic is not convenient.

A local family buried a 17 year old girl here today who'd rolled her car, being ejected in the roll as she wasn't wearing her seat belt. Just keeps happening, in spite of everything. A hundred years ago, we didn't need controls to tell us what was safer and what wasn't - the differences were obvious enough. Today maybe we do; maybe we need cars that won't run without all occupied seats belted?

 

[Cave Diver]

Today maybe we do; maybe we need cars that won't run without all occupied seats belted?

Uh. No.

People have the right to be stupid if they choose. What we need is less litigation rewarding them when they are and more litigation that punishes them and I bet you'll see more people start taking personal responsibility.

 

[peterbj7]

A local family buried a 17 year old girl here today who'd rolled her car, being ejected in the roll as she wasn't wearing her seat belt. Just keeps happening, in spite of everything

Very sad. Happens all too often, probably in most countries. In Britain now it's normal for insurance policies (life as well as auto) to refuse to pay anything at all if the victim was guilty of certain deliberate illegal actions. A father was killed in similar circumstances in Britain a while back, and because it was deemed that he was largely responsible for his own death (I don't mean his standard of driving, but the fact that he hadn't been wearing his belt) the benefits that would otherwise have gone to support his wife and young family were not paid. They ended up financially in a very bad way.

Is this the sort of legislation you (Cave Diver) mean?

 

[novicediver]

As someone once told me "No man is an island" - This can be interpreted in a myriad of ways. Sometimes personal actions have consequences that don't just affect yourself.

 

[AfterDark]

Very sad. Happens all too often, probably in most countries. In Britain now it's normal for insurance policies (life as well as auto) to refuse to pay anything at all if the victim was guilty of certain deliberate illegal actions. A father was killed in similar circumstances in Britain a while back, and because it was deemed that he was largely responsible for his own death (I don't mean his standard of driving, but the fact that he hadn't been wearing his belt) the benefits that would otherwise have gone to support his wife and young family were not paid. They ended up financially in a very bad way.

Is this the sort of legislation you (Cave Diver) mean?

I would pay a higher premium to drive without a seat belt, like smokers do on health care insurance. I had a life insurance policy that I paid a higher premium on because I dive. In fact at that time one or two of the insurance companies I talked with turned me down because of the diving.

"There are no bad risks only bad premiums" Lloyds of London

"Freedom is allowing people to do things of which you do not approve but that do not hurt you".

 

[ScubaSteve]

Peter, do you have a pic of one of these high speed ferries that you want equipped with belts? I am curious what they look like.

 

[peterbj7]

I don't have one but I'll see if I can take some. They're typically covered skiffs, 40-50ft long, maybe 12ft wide, powered usually by outboards but we have a few with inboards. The inboard ones tend to be slower, but the ones with outboards often have 500-750hp, and they really shift.

Inboards aren't popular here because we have a lot of very shallow waters, and prop damage can be very costly to repair.

 

[captain]

Today maybe we do; maybe we need cars that won't run without all occupied seats belted?

They tried that back in the 70's. Driver had to be buckled up before the car would start. Didn't work out too good.

 

[AfterDark]

They tried that back in the 70's. Driver had to be buckled up before the car would start. Didn't work out too good.

Yeah, I'd just by-pass it like the air bags, so I use it when I want to. Imagine someone wanting to use their property the way they want to? How radical!