Posted by W300Joe on Thursday, April 29, 2004 at 3:18PM :
In Reply to: seatbelt ticket(doh) posted by steve on Thursday, April 29, 2004 at 2:26AM :
I love personal freedom and just plain being left alone, but 10 years ago when that woman made a left hand turn in front of me on a blind hilltop when I was doing a legal 45MPH (and yes, she ever so briefly hesitated, and then tried it anyway) she taught me about seatbelts. I put 2 wheels on the shoulder but was hoping I'd miss or graze her instead of hitting possible oncoming traffic to my left or the line of huge old pines to my right. I'd didn't truly T-bone her - totalled her Subaru wagon with an almost quartering hit on her right front, pushed my front fender and much of my grille and battery into my firewall. Two nice cars totalled, low insurance values because they were older but extremely clean and solid - totalled value was nowhere near replacement. Human toll, nobody belted, she ended up with a broken wrist and assorted minor scrapes and cuts, her 16 year old daughter sustained facial injuries and a partial scalping, I folded my steering wheel into my dashboard, broke bones in my left hand, put my head into the windshield, cracked ribs, knee with lots of blood and stitches (still bothers me now), picked glass out of my face and scalp for nearly a year, took nearly 5 years to drive that road again. Yes, she was named at fault by the State Police, I received a moderate settlement from her insurance - basically enough to pay for removing the screws and pins in my hand if ever needed and some compensation for my wife for what she went through handling my hospital and doctors and the insurance - but I would've gladly settled for $0 if it had only been bruising and seatbelt chafing. Wear your seatbelt - is it that uncomfortable or too much trouble? The only thing worse than no seatbelt is no helmet on a motorcycle or snowmobile or 4-wheeler - you too could be called "organ donor", but then again, it's too restrictive or hot or blocks my vision, gotta wonder just how comfortable that morgue slab is? Joe