[Mgs] Seat Belts

[Douglas McKinnie]

Subject: Re: [Mgs] Seat Belts
Message-ID: <2886A225-D7BB-43BC-B97C-A14191E71C8C at ghs.com.au>
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>OK I'll open up a can of worms here..... why is it that Americans were so
>opposed to mandatory wearing of seat belts? European, Australians, and
pretty
>well everyone else in the world just accepted it because it was
>sensible......

I regularly drive rural roads in New England that are a pretty close match to
roads I drive in Surrey UK. The US narrow two-lane (single carriageway) with
blind curves and occasional adverse camber are marked 30 or 25 MPH, the rural
Surrey roads are "national speed limit" which is 60 MPH (~100) for that class
of road. I'd never consider driving on a road with tight bends at 60 without
seat belts, but at 30 it would be manageable.

So that is my answer -- the driving style in much of Europe would have you
sliding off the seat without restraints, whereas Americans expect not to
spill
a drop of the coffee from the mug they have placed in the cup-holder.

Douglas
'70 bgt