We have numerous duck ponds throughout South City. I guess that's one advantage of working in a larger city compared to a smaller one, meaning more cars on the road.
This one spot allows us to watch oncoming traffic as far away as 1,500 feet or more. When the cars don't appear to be speeding we'll watch them drive by and more times than not, end up seeing a driver on their cell phone or not wearing a seat belt.
Watching this one group of about 5 to 7 vehicles traveling toward my parked location, I noticed a small sedan drive by and saw that the right front passenger wasn't wearing their seat belt. Not wanting to miss a chance to "educate" the passenger, I quickly fire up the 103 cubic inch V-twin and quickly catch up to it.
I turned on the pretty flashing lights and notice the driver's seat belt is just hanging from the B-pillar instead of being worn. It's not too often that you catch two in one car.
After the car pulled over, I contacted the driver and obtained his driver license, vehicle registration and evidence of car insurance. After speaking with "Dad", I then contacted the adult daughter whom I initially spied not wearing her seat belt.
I got the usual story of them knowing a "friend" who was involved in a terrible vehicle collision and had they been wearing their seat belt they wouldn't be alive today.
My reply to that story I've heard so many times is, "Well I've never seen anybody killed in a vehicle collision where the cause of death was a direct result of wearing their seat belt."
Needless to say neither were happy about getting seat belt tickets, "Press hard 3 copies times two please."
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got to love the double duck stops!
ReplyDeleteYes, let's ignore the countless stories of people having been SAVED by wearing their seat belts...
ReplyDeleteWhen I was 16, I crashed my car - basically, I lost control of the car, hit the guard rails twice on each side, spun out, and rolled twice. Completely totalled, almost died, very, very bad accident. Well, when the crash was over and the officer came to take my statement in the hospital, he said, "I don't even have to ask you if you were wearing your seatbelt because I know you were. Had you not, you would be dead right now. You would have been dead and I would have been scarping your bloodly body off the asphalt." (So comforting, I know).
ReplyDeleteWell, fast forward a few months from that, I went on a ride along as an explorer and we pulled a car with three people over for not wearing seatbelts. Of course they gave the excuse about not wanting to be trapped in their car and blah blah, and when I couldn't stand their excuse any more I asked the deputy I was with if I could intervene. He let me, so I told my story, detail for detail, and how I would not being standing there at that moment if I hadn't been wearing my seatbelts. I actually ended up getting to them - I showed them pictures from my phone of the car and me in the hospital (so kindly taken by my father). Putting a personal touch definitely gives an impact. That deputy still always tells my story on his traffic stop where people give that excuse.