Seatbelts. Meh.

On By granonineIn Daily Prompt

Think about the last time you broke a rule (a big one, not just ripping the tags off your pillows). Were you burned, or did things turn out for the best?

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“Click it or Ticket,”  reads the billboard.  “Seat belts save lives.” “Fasten your seatbelt.  It’s the LAW”!

I know.  I know the stats.  I know the probability.  I get it.

I’m less than five feet tall.  Seatbelts cut across my neck and make me feel as if I’m being strangled.  My husband has put sliders on the seatbelts that allow me to adjust the strap off my neck, but especially in winter when I’m wearing a coat, gloves, bulkier clothing, they’re a pain to get adjusted.

So lots of times I pull the seatbelt enough to hook it under my arm so it looks as if I’m actually wearing it, hoping to fool any police officer who may be glancing my way.  So far I’ve managed to pull it off.

Then they started installing cameras at stoplights.  Big Brother is hovering over us, keeping us safe from making our own decisions.  The cameras make me furious.  I think they’re intrusive.  But I don’t want to pay a hefty fine, so I really do try to remember to hook the blasted seat belt before I leave my driveway.  I’m constantly adjusting the slider because it–well, it SLIDES!

So I can’t say I’ve ever been burned by breaking this particular Nanny government law.  However, if they keep messing with how much sugar I’m allowed to consume, we may be singing a different tune.

https://dailypost.wordpress.com/dp_prompt/breaking-the-law/

13 thoughts on “Seatbelts. Meh.”

  1. I hear where you’re coming from, though I’m 100% behind seat-belt laws. Nowadays you don’t see the facial scarring we used to see from people going from windshields and falling back over jagged broken glass.
    As to red light cameras, I never knew they snapped seat-belt offenders. I think ours just take a picture of our plates if we go through on a red light. Up here they’re only installed at “high collision” locations.

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    2. I don’t disapprove of wearing a seatbelt. I do disapprove of nanny government. As to the cameras, it’s my understanding that some of them get the whole picture, including the driver.

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      1. agreed. if you are not smart enough to understand the importance of wearing a seatbelt, then good luck out there in the big world; it should not be a law, it is common sense (which is dreadfully lacking). Same goes for the motorcycle helmets. The only upside I can see from the government (state or federal) standardizing seatbelts is if the person not wearing one doesn’t die but lives on in a coma or as a nonfunctioning person, when (or if) their insurance runs out they become the financial burden of society.

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  3. When they let me loose on the roads, seat belts were already law in Switzerland so I never did it without. the only reason I forget the belt today is because I am taking photos on the way with Mr. Swiss at the wheel, but he reminds me. Actually I feel rather strange without the seat belt.

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  5. Pingback: Daily Prompt, Breaking the Law | tnkerr-Writing Prompts and Practice

  6. I have the same issues, from the annoyance at our government’s Big Brother attitude, to being uncomfortable wearing seat belts because of my size and shape. I did find something that makes it less unbearable. After I’ve pulled the belt out far enough to insert the buckle into the receptacle, I give it a complete twist, turn the buckle upside down then continue in the same motion until it is again right-side up. *Then* I insert the buckle. You have to pull on the strap a little to adjust it, but with a twist in it, it stays adjusted and no longer slides up my boobs and cuts into my neck.

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