Thread: Man dies in 4wd roll-over accident

Originally Posted by mcrover

I dont wear my seat belt when traveling at slow speeds 4wding but as soon as I get up to a constant speed 40 to 60kmh I refit.

I dont wear it so I can actually move around and not get forced back into my seat.

I have also been in a roll over where the seat belt caused more damage than than the rest of the accident and undoing a seat belt while up side down isnt fun.

I have to say your last statement is fairly naive. Yes seatbelts do cause injuries, but in all liklyhood you would have received worse injuries or worse still without one on and you could be thrown from the car. Even at low speeds I have seen people killed or badly injured in roll overs that would have survived with minor injuries if they had been wearing a seat belt.

I feel weird driving without a seat belt, like there is something missing

Originally Posted by jbarracl

I feel weird driving without a seat belt, like there is something missing

Me too! And frankly, not wearing one is just...well...stupid.

Angus

snowy landys had seatbelts fited prety much from day dot same as there trucks dozers ect they work

Originally Posted by CraigE

I have to say your last statement is fairly naive. Yes seatbelts do cause injuries, but in all liklyhood you would have received worse injuries or worse still without one on and you could be thrown from the car. Even at low speeds I have seen people killed or badly injured in roll overs that would have survived with minor injuries if they had been wearing a seat belt.

I agree...

I think the specs were 10km/h to 0km/h is enough to send a passenger into the glass...

I'd believe it too...

Coming to a screaming halt at 10km/h before when I grounded on a rock locked the belt and hurt my chest.

I'd also like to point out, its easy to kiss the steering wheel in this case, and a face full of busted teeth and gums really ruins a trip.

Originally Posted by 460cixy

snowy landys had seatbelts fited prety much from day dot same as there trucks dozers ect they work

SMA fitted belts to ALL vehicles (in the very early fifties) and made it a firing offence to not wear them. The resulting statistics they collected and published were the basis for the compulsory fitting and then wearing of seat belts in Australia and later the world. The big difference from previous assessments of seat belt wearing was that it was in a controlled environment where it was certain who was wearing a belt and who wasn't. The improvement in safety was dramatic.

Worth noting was that the driving environment was largely what would now be described as off-road driving, and so very relevant to this forum.

It is also of interest to note that not one of their vehicles used a seat belt that met Australian Standards (none existed) and there was no engineering approval of any of them, and most of the installations probably would not be approved today, and there were no inertia reels etc, and many of them were two point (e.g. centre seat in Landrovers). But they still made a dramatic improvement in safety.

Both of the first two Landrovers I owned in the early sixties (1956 & 58) were ex-SMA and fitted with seat belts - although the car I had before that I had fitted with belts myself.

John

I can't think of a single good reason not to wear a seat belt - at any speed.

When I rolled and was left dangling from the seat belt, getting it undone was the least of my problems.

Five people in an upside down Rangie and not one of them hurt, thanks to the seatbelts.

If that was a sedan at an intersection in a suburb it WOULD NOT BE NEWS. But becuase he was in a 4x4, in the bush.... Suddenly the world cares.

Get ready to defend your recreation people. I think we are the new Media targets. A million desperate Burmese just wont cut it anymore! They want to get people having fun!

I