I beg to differ (archive)

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In Reply to: message received posted by Rachel on September 28, 1999 at 11:11:53:

: Anecdotal- my brother was in an accident ~1978 in his 442. After a storm, he was crossing a low bridge over a stream. As his headlights pointed down approaching the bridge, he could not see a tree that had fallen over the road on the far side of the bridge. As he reached the other side, his headlights pointed up and he saw the tree, suspended ~3ft off the ground because of its roots and branches, just high enough to clear the hood.
: Pre-ABS, the skid marks continue to impact, the car was found with the roof peeled back like a sardine can top and the tree itself was in the passenger and driver's seats. Blood was found only on the gearshift and passenger side rear window.
: My brother was fine, dazed, found standing outside the car, not knowing how he had escaped. Only a cut on his head requiring stitches.

: Certainly if had been wearing a seat belt, he'd be dead. From that time until now, I have been lax about wearing my seatbelt, because although his circumstance was unusual, so are accidents.

This is anecdotal as well, but my ex-boss was driving his RX7 on a snowy day and came around a corner to discover that a semi had spun out across the road, the RX7 made it about half way under the semi before stopping. The roof was pretty much crushed into the passenger compartment. My Ex-Boss was wearing his seat belt and walked away from the wreck, he doesn't remember ducking, but he must have. Remember that a seat belt is fixed to the outboard side of the car, if your roof is about to be chopped off, you will duck to the inboard side.

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