I totally got you were talking about others not you, but that doesnt mean that people who do feel that way are correct, they aren't.

 

This is part of the basic checks before riding off with pals, family or work colleagues. Safety belt is easy to put on, and it's the drivers responsibility and liability, if other peoples aren't fastened in the car and an incident occur. Also, it's the driver who will have to pay the fines.

So yes, everybody is fastened when I drive off, and there is no exception.

 

If you are driving you want to be sure your hands & arms etc are never blocking the airbag in the steering wheel. If the air bag goes off you are going to get the hardest punch in the face of your life. That's one of the reasons your arms & hands should stay on their side of the steering wheel!

 

Well, with the horn-pad in the middle of the steering wheel, and some of the buttons/switches on the wheel very close to the center, it is not always possible to keep one's hands away from the air-bag housing.

 

Exactly. Cops know the law....it's their job to know it. Most are honest, and (in my experience) will treat you fairly if you do not try to act like a know-it-all. And, if you (unfortunately) end up with a dishonest or corrupt one, he or she probably won't care what you say....or don't say.

 

Anyone under 18 in my car is required to wear a seat belt - the car doesn't move until everyone is belted, no exceptions.

Anyone 18 or over...they're adults, and they don't need me telling them how to live their lives.

 

If seatbelts aren't buckled in my car alarms go off so unless you want to go crazy hearing non stop chimes you better wear them.

 

should go without saying but unfortunately there are many around my area that still don't wear them - mainly I observed driving lifted full size trucks!

also cabbies! they get around the buckle chime by routing the belt around the BACK of the seat and buckling it...clever but unwise.

 

Fortunately, my '04 RX is old enough that it doesn't have the annoying chime like my wife's Highlander that comes on after 60 seconds or so. I expect that to change when I get my NX next year, but hopefully a little surgery in the seat belt receptacle can fix that problem.

 

It can be turned off with techstream or Carista.

 

With all due respect, that is incorrect. In some cases, adult or child, they DO need you to tell them what to do, at least inside your vehicle, when you are the driver. According to the laws in most states, as the driver, YOU are responsible to make sure that every adult and child in the vehicle is secured correctly. If they don't want to follow the law, then they can find some other form of transportation.....or a driver that also disregards the law by not making them belt up.

Same at a dealership, if and when a salesperson wants to go with me on a test-drive.....which is his or her prerogative. If I'm driving, he or she buckles up, period, or I don't move until they do.

What I said, though, is the law in most states. Georgia, where you are, may or may not be an exception.

 

Oh, I'm aware of what the law says - in this instance (as with other inappropriate nanny-state laws) I simply don't obey it. I suppose that opens me up to some legal risk in the unlikely situation that I have a passenger who doesn't wear a seat belt (I actually can't think of anyone I've had in my car in the last several years who hasn't worn one) *and* encounter an overenthusiastic cop, but so be it.

 

OK, well, then, that's your decision. I guess there's no further need for us to discuss it.

 

good point. Closed.