Shizzle Popped wrote: ↑Tue Jan 31, 2023 2:28 pm
I would honestly be happier if this thing came in something other than black. Drill bit jammed, drill kept going and took my hand and wrist along for a ride. It's just a strain but it's going to keep me out of commission for a while and I'm not accustomed to sitting around twiddling my thumbs.
In 1965, Nader, 31, penned "Unsafe at Any Speed," a best-selling exposé that claimed car manufacturers were sacrificing lives for style and profit.
Nader argued that Detroit willfully neglected advances in auto safety, like roll bars and seat belts, to keep costs down.
His investigation spurred Congress to create what eventually became the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, which required all vehicles (except buses) to be fitted with seat belts in 1968.
But using them was strictly voluntary. And many Americans didn't want to.
As late as 1983, fewer than 15% of Americans said they used seat belts consistently.
New York became the first state to pass a mandatory seat-belt law, in 1984. Other states soon followed.
While there was already clear evidence seat belts saved lives, these measures faced stiff opposition. A Gallup poll from July 1984 showed that 65% of Americans opposed mandatory belt laws, according to the Los Angeles Times.
In a survey one year later, drivers said they thought the restraints were "ineffective, inconvenient, and uncomfortable."
Some argued — incorrectly — that it was safer to be thrown clear from a wreck than trapped inside one.
"In this country, saving freedom is more important than trying to regulate lives through legislation," wrote one staunch opponent in a 1987 Chicago Tribune editorial.
A slogan against car seat belts was "When Your Number's Up It's Up."
"Mickey Mouse and I grew up together." - Ruthie Tompson, Disney animation checker and scene planner and one of the first women to become a member of the International Photographers Union in 1952.
I've refused to drive two people on separate outings who would not wear seat belts as passengers. Both were relatives. One gave the excuse they were afraid of being in an accident trapped burning alive. Did not sway me.
I graduated from high school in 1980 so I was learning to drive during the early peak of the whole seat belt debate. My parents were adamant about us all wearing seat belts from as early as I can remember so it was habit for me. But forty-some years later I can still remember a conversation that really embedded the whole thing deeply into my mind.
One of my best friends worked at a little local mom and pop gas station. You know, the kind where they used to come out and pump gas for you and where nobody with any sense would use the restroom. They had a two bay garage and a couple of mechanics on staff to do tires and a variety of repair work. My buddy always had a fairly hot car so when the mechanics would go home we would work on his car sometimes between customers. One of the customers was the father of one of our classmates who happened to be a sergeant in the Illinois State Police. This guy was one of the cool ones and loved cars and hot rods and frequently would hang around for 10 or 15 minutes to talk about cars or look at what we were doing on my buddy's car. He treated us like adults so we listened to what he had to say. One night we somehow got into the topic of seat belts and he started talking about some of the things he'd seen, in detail, while on the job. The guy had a lot of stories about people who would have lived if they'd only been wearing a seat belt. The conversation made enough of an impression that I still remember it 40 years later.
So, yeah, my car doesn't leave the driveway until everybody is buckled in. Period.
"Let us tenderly and kindly cherish, therefore, the means of knowledge. Let us dare to read, think, speak, and write."
John Adams
My uncle wired a kill switch to the driver seat belt. In addition to preventing his kids from driving without buckling up, he theorized that it would likely prevent his car from being stolen as well.
“Remember, democracy never lasts long. It soon wastes, exhausts, and murders itself. There never was a democracy yet that did not commit suicide.” —John Adams
The guy I was dating my freshman year in college got in a car accident during Christmas break. He wasn't wearing his seat belt and went through the windshield. The glass came within a 1/2" from his jugular. Nasty scars.
Shizzle Popped wrote: ↑Tue Jan 31, 2023 2:28 pm
It's kind of funny how something I thought was a fairly non-controversial meme turned into this whole discussion.
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I would honestly be happier if this thing came in something other than black. Drill bit jammed, drill kept going and took my hand and wrist along for a ride. It's just a strain but it's going to keep me out of commission for a while and I'm not accustomed to sitting around twiddling my thumbs.
You could always wear a matching one on your other wrist. If anyone asks, you say you're "in training."
The bitterest truth is more wholesome than the sweetest lie.