Safety group says 48% of men never wear seatbelts

Victor

Why should motorists expect any sympathy when statisitics like this still exist?

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From http://www.ireland.com/newspaper/breaking/2002/0422/breaking46.htm

Safety group says 48% of men never wear seatbelts

By Clodagh Mulvey Last updated: 22-04-02, 13:07

Parents, male drivers and mature drivers are the top three groups being targeted by a new National Safety Council (NSC) seatbelt-wearing campaign.

According to the NSC, 80 per cent of back-seat passengers (mostly children), 48 per cent of men and a large proportion of mature drivers never wear a seatbelt.

Speaking at the announcement of the "Clicked Yet?" campaign today, NSC chief executive Mr Pat Costello said: "Seatbelts are proven lifesavers".

He said: "in a head-on collision, at speeds as low as 40 kph, drivers or passengers not wearing seatbelts will almost certainly be killed or seriously injured."

According to the NSC, Irish seatbelt wearing rates lag far behind that of many European countries, which are often as high as 85 per cent.

The NSC awareness campaign aims to encourage the 43 per cent of Irish motorists who, according to National Road Authority statistics don’t wear a seatbelt, to become more safety conscious.

The Clicked Yet? campaign is to run from the May bank holiday weekend through the summer and will encourage motorists to use good road safety practice on all car journeys.

According to the NSC, higher rates of seatbelt wearing could save up to 7,000 lives annually across the EU.

sceptre

Frightening that - didn't realise people were that stupid.

No-one gets into the car with me without having a seatbelt on.

(are blokes lazy or do they think they're hard, driving without a seatbelt?)

On a lighter note, I was driving behind a guy on a motorbike yesterday. He was wearing his helmet. Not only that, he was wearing two - he had his spare hanging around his neck, hanging over his back. That'd hurt a bit if he fell on it.

gurramok

I find that taxi & hackney drivers, especially the male ones often dont wear seatbelts.
Some drivers just have no cop-on that a seatbelt is a lifesaver.
Absolutely amazing, i'm not surprised by that 48% figure !!

Victor

Originally posted by gurramok
I find that taxi & hackney drivers, especially the male ones often dont wear seatbelts.

I understand PSV drivers don't need to wear them.

Saruman

personally i would never get into a car without one on.. i dont feel comfortable without one! Does that poll only include drivers though? or does that also go for passengers?

Victor

I imagine it covers all car users "According to the NSC, 80 per cent of back-seat passengers (mostly children), 48 per cent of men and a large proportion of mature drivers never wear a seatbelt."

And just in case you think you can get away with part of the 48% being passengers, take into account that the 48% "never wear a seatbelt", that doesn't count those who "usually, sometimes, or rarely" wear a seatbelt.

Rebel18

Its a habbit i know a lot who dont put on their belts but I wouldnt say anything to them in case they would laugh.

Victor

Further article

http://www.ireland.com/newspaper/ireland/2002/0423/472982133HM2SEATBELTS.html

Blitzkrieger

Originally posted by Victor
Why should motorists expect any sympathy when statisitics like this still exist?

eh?

If you want sympathy for someone, have it for me! I've never had an accident in my five years of driving. 3 years with a full license and I even took and passed an advanced driving test. I always wear my seatbelt and ensure my car is roadworthy. I'm paying €1,800 for insurance.

My mother recently got a quote for €800. She has never had a license before and god help us all when she gets out on the road cos she's one of those people who panic at the slightest thing. Indurance a rip off? Nahhhhh

Ba$tard

I agree with above...

I honestly dont know what the hell goes through some males minds when they dont wear seatbelts...NEVERMIND them asking their passengers to put theirs on!
Ingredients: May contains dolops of machoism, laziness, ignorance, superstition, you name it..oh yeah and the people who say 'I ain't wearing a seatbelt...they kill people..did ya hear about the guy who....blah blah"..they all attribute to the statistics of 48%

What gets ME is a family, be it a knacker(can I say knacker? or trabbelliinnng community [erm if they are 'travelling', why do they hog laybys so for years on end, eh? travelling me arse]) or normal family and they have their wee curly little baby hand-printing the dashboard of the vehicle as it hurtles along in the overtaking lane at 42.21mph in heavy traffic. My blood boils when I see this....honest to god...the poor child wouldnt stand a chance if anything happened....these people in my option not only shouldt be allowed drive, they shouldnt be allowed to procreate.

On a lessers note, when I have a car full of passengers, it is ONLY the women who complain and argue when I ask them to put on their seatbelts. And I ALWAYS 'ask' them to put them on(for the last 7 years of driving) even when I was driving a motorbike

Ohhh, the retartedness of it all
Look what this thread has done now to me!!! I have to split my inner-rage-pool yet again between Priests, government, Eircom, SKY, Insurance, Roads, Taxes, SpamMail, <others> and now non-seatbelt-wearing freeks !

J.

Lyconix

Originally posted by Rebel18
i know a lot who dont put on their belts but I wouldnt say anything to them in case they would laugh.

I would if I was driving and they were sitting behind me... dude going into the back of your seat with equivalent weight of baby elephant = not nice

I'm not in the least bit surprised at the stat, people think they're hard, but the reality is they're just being stupid...