I live in South Florida and we have had the seat belt law for ages! But now they want to enforce it and stop anyone without a seat belt.

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Well we all have our own way of doing things I guess. As I told you, crash helmets have been compulsory for motorcyclists in the UK for as long as I can remember. This is strictly enforced. The way I see it, there's no point in having a law if you don't enforce it.

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To protect their heads on the way in/out of the aircraft?

One thing that bothers me is that some of the older cars (like the car I'm working on) only have lab belts-even in the front.  So, it looks like the driver isn't wearing a seatbelt from the outside of the car-since it can only be seen when someone looks directly into the interior.  I wonder if I'm gonna get pulled over (and then let go) because it looks like I'm not wearing a seatbelt.

If you are not wearing your seatbelt and you run into something solid, you immediately become a rocket-propelled grenade..... ...!
Wearing seat-belts and motor-cycle crash safety helmets is mandateory over here... 8)...!
"Klunk-Klick, every trip"...!... 8)...!
...you know it makes sense... ...!

Paul.
(England).

Agreed Fozzer, for those of you on the other side of The Pond who might doubt, or be complaining well think about this little piece of research my the British Motor Vehicle Safety chappies.
An average sized two year old in a car not wearing a belt in a head on collision at 30 mph has the same effect as a fully grown African bull elephant (something to do with physics!) when it hits the windscreen (or adult seated in-front of them).
My advice wear the belt, don't compain, and if the officer stops you, be polite and point out that you have enough brains to wear one! I'm sure the officer will be v.nice, I always found the CHiPs chappies v.polite, especially when they pulled my dad for speeding

Mark

PS. Kevin I would ALWAYS wear a lid and leathers, I was in Greece some 8 years ago and ended up in hospital with my head split open (windsurfing accident), and they brought in a German tourist who'd come off a moped wearing only shorts and flip-flops. I'm not squeamish, but I nearly puked. He died lying there on the bed next too me, there was just so much of his body missing, and he'd come off at about 20 mph. Most of his face was gone.... I could see his ribs (the skin flailed off his chest. The right arm and leg looked like bits of meet hyenas had been chewing on for a few hours. Convinced me of safety first!

Reading this thread gives me a strange feeling of deja vu. I remember the same arguments & objections when seat belts were made compulsory in the UK.
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Fortunately. common sense prevailed. A few stupid (IMHO) individuals still object to wearing them but they are in a small minority. The same applies to crash helmets for motorcycles. Sorry Foz, I still call them crash helmets.

I'm surprised to hear that anyone would think of using a lap-strap in a car. These would offer no protection at all & you might as well not bother. Our seat belts must comply with an international standard & comprise a lap-strap with a diagonal shoulder strap.

Richie. These are not compulsory for vintage cars over a certain age but any car can be fitted with an approved safety belt. This article gives the details & a brief history of seat belts in the UK.
http://www.quickfitsbs.co.uk/qsbs/2b.htm

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Pippin. I find this strange to say the least. You guys work to a different system than us. We have no regional variations for these things. Our laws cover the whole country & have to be introduced by Act of Parliament. I suppose this is similar to your Federal Law.

I wore a crash helmet or seat belt long before either was made compulsory. I wore them while on holiday in the US too. Surely it's a simple case of common sense.