I always wear my seatbelt, have had too many accidents and walked away from them to not believe in them. I do have a hard time getting my wife to wear them, though she is getting better about it. Every time she puts her feet up on the dash I remind her of what an airbag would do to her if it went off right now.
I had an accident in 1997 when I wrecked my own car, alone. I killed the car(91 LSC SE), a telephone poll in the left door hinge, and stepped out of the sunroof. With minor injuries I credit God for me being here, not the seat belts or luck. I still wear them as much as possible today. Regards,
I read about your accident with great interest. Replace "LSC SE" with "85 Z28" and "telephone pole" with "tree" and "sunroof" with "T-Tops" and I had the exact same accident. LOL Had to pick bark out of my face, and even had to take my shoes off to get out of the car (the shoes were pinned by the pedals). Yes, I was wearing a seatbelt. The police officer said I shouldn't be breathing, let alone walking.
I fell asleep driving an 85 S10 Blazer and rolled it into a ditch and on its side. seat belt saved me.
I hit a 12 point buck with a 97 Tbird at highway speed (he jumped in front of me from no where). Seat belt saved me (air bag scared the crap out of me. LOL)
I just don't feel comfortable without one. I've worn one since I was a teen and you had to either buckle the shoulder harness and lap belt individually or you had to snap the shoulder belt into the lap belt buckle. trust me seat belts have gotten better over the years but I have always used them.
In college I did a research paper on them and I concur with what has been said about belts keeping drivers in place to help them control the car.
Hitting water at most driving speeds is like hitting a wall. You want to be buckled in because if you are knocked out, you won't be getting out of the car period, seat belt or not.