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Wear Your Seatbelt. Or Don't, It's All the Same for the Other 7 Billion People

All those who don't wear the seatbelt have very good reasons for it, but most of the times it's all about how that tiny strap is such a big nuisance. Yeah, some people would rather feel "free" in their seats than make sure they don't get killed by what would have otherwise been a minor accident.
Seatbelt incident 1 photo
Photo: Screenshot from LiveLeak
In older - much older - cars, it didn't make much of a difference: at speeds of over 40 mph, your chances of surviving would have been slim, seatbelt fastened or not. The cars had no crumple zones, the safety cell wasn't that stiff (or wasn't, period), and there were no airbags. Now, though, your personal car is safer than the US president's limo thirty years ago.

And yet, there are those who still believe it's better not to be strapped in their seat in case of a collision because, you know, the laws of physics have absolutely no impact on them. They work out, they have strong arms so they'll just push real hard into the steering wheel and overcome any possible incident. What's that? "What about side impacts?" Oh... they didn't think of that.

It's funny how some people will spend thousands of dollars on safety features that don't even go off if the seatbelt is not fastened. They either aren't aware of this little fact, or they just specced the car the way they did thinking ahead of the moment they'll sell it. Which, come to think of it, would be very considerate of them.

Now, back to side impacts and why grabbing on to the steering wheel doesn't work. You'll see a man who clearly isn't a stranger to amateur "street racing" - at least in his mind he isn't. He's driving a BMW with enough stickers on it to make the door to a kid's room blush. It's raining, and he's in a rear-wheel-drive car, so that naturally means that he needs to be speeding. Not only that, but he's also crisscrossing through traffic.

It's just a matter of minutes until he loses control of the vehicle, goes sideways, and hits a street post. The car starts to spin, and a man is thrown cleanly through the open side window, performing a few breakdance moves on the pavement as he drifts his way onto the incoming lanes.

Had the asphalt not been wet, his back would have been one big hunk of bloody flesh, but he got lucky. Just as well, another guy in a BMW full of stickers might have been coming from the opposite side and hit him, but once again, he was lucky. Alternatively, he could have just worn the seatbelt, and none of this would have happened. It's as simple as that. And, speaking of simple safety measures, what the hell does the driver of the filming car have against windshield wipers?

[LIVELEAK=http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=8b8_1465571546]
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About the author: Vlad Mitrache
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"Boy meets car, boy loves car, boy gets journalism degree and starts job writing and editing at a car magazine" - 5/5. (Vlad Mitrache if he was a movie)
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