Yeah, Seat belt issues are a major issue for me....but they ALWAYS have been. It's not just something I have begun advocating since Clay's accident.
Seat-belts have saved my life on three seperate occasions....both my sons lives about 22 years ago and had my son been wearing a seat belt when he was 15 he wouldn't have been hurt in that accident so badly, either. My daughter wearing a safety belt saved not only her life but her unborn babies life in an accident back about 7 years ago.
I have to say tho- I not sure him being restrained would have made a huge difference in his accident this time tho......Altho he was unrestrained, his airbags didn't deploy either. But we will never know.
I KNOW seat belts are TERRIBLY uncomfortable- every time I wear on it almost cuts off my circulation to my brain by it pressing against my jugular vein, but I still wear one. I said it before and I'll say it again..........an unrestrained body is a deadly projectile- not only for the unrestrained person, but for any innocent bystanders as well.
There's a lot of stories about people who have burned up or drowned in accidents because they couldn't get their seat-belts off to save them selves. I carry a utility knife in my glove-box just for that reason as well.
It's a personal decision, I suppose.
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Lemme tell you a story- a TRUE story.......
A few months ago my sons came to visit me for a while. They stayed a couple hours and then they were going to go to a friends house. They both hugged and kissed me, and walked out the door. The last thing I ALWAYS say to them as they leave (not just THIS day but EVERY TIME) is "Be careful. Buckle up. I love you"
On that day I told them that- and they said they would...but I said Buckle up NOW. So they made a big show of buckling up and waving as they went out the driveway.
So I walked in, picked up the phone, waited about 30 seconds and started dialing. Paulius asked who I was calling- and I answered"the Boys."
He said"they just left"
"I know" I said and I hit speaker so he could hear what was said........
* Frank answered....."HELL-O! Clays Phone- How may I help you?"
*Me......."Put them back ON"
*.......laughter from both boys......... and clicking of seat-belts being re-fastened.
Both Boys in the background..."How did she know?....."We JUST took em off, Mama!!"
Me......"I know- that's why I called...Keep em on....and I love you BOTH!!"
Maybe in the back of my mind I knew something like this would happen......and that's why I was/have been/am so adamant about buckling up.
I dunno- all I know is I will always be telling people who I know and care about to buckle up- whether they like it or not- or agree with me or not....
So.....
BUCKLE UP!!!!! ALL OF YOU!!!!
5 comments:
I want to make sure we all understand each other. I'm not against seat belts. I wear mine and insist the kids wear theirs. To help underscore the point, I also wear a motorcycle helmet in a state that has no helmet laws at all. (Even kids can ride on a motorcycle without a helmet, and no, I don't allow that either.)
My comment was designed exclusively to express disagreement with laws that regulate personal decisions -- "victimless crimes," if you will -- and I used seat belt laws as an example. Nothing more, nothing less. I was in no way implying that you're a newcomer to the seat belt brigade.
/disclaimer
Sunny, you did everything you could to make your kids wear their seat belts. Remember back when you were their age and you felt like you were immortal? Things happened to everyone else, not to you. Parents can do everything right and kids will still test the waters whenever they can. It's all about growing up and making their own decisions. Sometimes they make the wrong decisions ... results can be disastrous. It's not your fault.
Tight hugs,
L
Ozzy- I understand.....and I'm glad you make all the right decisions about safety...for all concerned.
And yeah- I have issues with Big Brother making all these laws for my personal issues as well.
Next thing you know they'll be in our bedrooms too.....
Lois-I know....it just feels like I didn't do enough some days. Maybe if I had thrown hissy fiots about it and went into hysterics...but as i said- I'm not sure it would have done an iota of good in this instance.......too many things went wrong at the same time.....
This is so hard, Lois....so hard to deal with.
i'm sorry for your loss. it's strange, but i know of two people that had similar accidents. one survived, the other one didn't.
one was my sister. the other was her best friend.
ally was on her way home, swerved to miss a deer (at least, that's what we think, we really don't know) and almost the same thing happened to her that did to clay. she was thrown out of the windshield and was killed instantly.
my sister was on her way to church and swerved to miss a dog. she was wearing her seatbelt, but without the Lord, she would have been dead, b/c that car rolled end over end and side over side. the car was a total mess. she ended up crawling out of the back windshield. the road she was on wasn't a busy one, but thankfully someone came along.
i'm short, so like you, the seat belt always tries to strangle me. thankfully, i've got big boobs, and i can sorta anchor the belt to where it's not trying to kill me.
remember that clay will always be with you, even if you can't see him. he's still loving you and watching over all of you. just a little more quietly now.
Great post. I am always buckling up and have enforced that on my kids.
*hugs and love*
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