Paul obviously it is your choice but I am curious why you 'hate them' unless your driving a very old car seat belts do very little to restrict normal movement.
Bob,
I grew up never using seatbelts, as did my whole family. Up until about 1978 we had an older car which didn't even
have any belts. I was forced to use one when I took my driver's test in '83 as the law had just been passed, but I always found the things very restrictive and uncomfortable. The only time I've ever buckled one since is to escape a police check.
There's ample evidence to show that in many types of crash a belt will actually do far more harm than good, and in fact there are many accidents on record in which a person has been killed
by the belt or has escaped only because he
wasn't strapped in.
As for the law, it sounds as though we're probably in agreement. Even if there were no questions about effectiveness or otherwise, in my opinion it would still be none of the government's business whether I buckle up or not.
