From: utzoo!utcsrgv!utcsstat!wagner Newsgroups: net.auto Title: Re: Air Bags and other devices - (nf) Article-I.D.: utcsstat.317 Posted: Sat Aug 21 10:33:18 1982 Received: Mon Aug 23 13:36:04 1982 References: csin.181 Suggestions have been made on this newsgroup that insurance not be payable to people not using seatbelts. I think that, to be fair, it would be necessary to show that lack of seat belt was relevant to the extent of the damage. (it wasnt my idea, I cant take credit, some else said it first here, I have forgotten who). However, this might be hard. I have received at least one comment that people dont generally hit other cars when they become projectiles. The point has perhaps been missed. If you see someone flying through the air, even not very near you,|you are likely to freak out and do something stupid. Just think how many accidents are caused by rubber-neckers after all the action has completed in the main accident. Imagine what people who cant keep their eyes on the road would do with projectile people. And utzoo!laura is right - (from experience, unfortunately) if you are involved in accidents where people die, you have nightmares and other problems for months after. I was lucky - there was no way I could be considered in the wrong. What about cases when you werent sure? Like you hit the brakes instinctively and froze when you saw the person flying through the air, and the resulting secondary accident killed someone else. Would you be able to cope with guilt? Without turning this into a demonstration of "I survived a scarier accident than you did" childishness, I wonder how many anti-seatbelt types (for their own choice, not freedom-of- choice-for-others advocates) here on the net have had experiences with major accidents (serious injury - requiring hospitalization). Seems I became a bigger advocate of seatbelts after seeing what they could and couldnt do. What do others think? Michael Wagner, UTCS