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From: cjh@petsd.UUCP (Chris Henrich)
Newsgroups: net.politics
Subject: Re: Mandatory Seatbelt Laws
Message-ID: <494@petsd.UUCP>
Date: Wed, 10-Apr-85 13:01:06 EST
Article-I.D.: petsd.494
Posted: Wed Apr 10 13:01:06 1985
Date-Received: Thu, 11-Apr-85 00:52:10 EST
References: <352@calgary.UUCP>
Organization: Perkin-Elmer DSG, Tinton Falls, N.J.
Lines: 36

[]
	Radford Neal writes, in response to a posting by
someone else:
> > 2.  Unbelted occupants endanger others by the weight of their moving
> > bodies in a collision.  
> 
> Do you have any evidence of significant effects of this nature? All the
> seat-belt data I've heard of concerns safety of the wearer, not others.
> I find it hard to believe the above effects are very large, compared, say,
> to the dangers posed by drivers who use one hand to hold a coffee cup
> (should that be outlawed?).

I have anecdotal evidence.  A seatbelt that I was using may
have prevented a bad accident.

The circumstances are these: I was a passenger in the front
seat of a car, and we were driving about 50mph on a two-lane
highway in rural Ontario. A rear tire blew out, and the car
swerved violently before the driver could bring it to a halt.
If I had not been using the belt, I would have been thrown
against his right arm at least once.

The driver with a coffee cup in one hand sounds scary. (Thank
God it isn't a beer can.)  I hope that, in an emergency, he
would drop the coffee and grab the wheel.  The resulting
damage might be no more than a hot-seat.  What is known about
the effects of such distractions?

Regards,
Chris

--
Full-Name:  Christopher J. Henrich
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