Seatbelts, people! (and unbelievable stupidity)

[macloudt]

--- In HPFGU-OTChatter at y..., Martin Hooper <mat at h...> wrote:
> >I and my passenger both walked away with only cuts and
> >bruises.
> 
> Glad to hear that Rachael...  Mind you not wearing seatbelts is 
illegal in 
> the UK...  

First of all, I'm so glad to hear you're all right.  I've been 
rearended twice in my driving career.  Both times the car (my dad's!) 
was totalled, and both times I walked away with just a few bruises.  
I still owe my Guardian Angel a crate of beer.

Yes, Martin, wearing seatbelts may be illegal here, but how many 
people still don't do it?  The most extraordinary story I've ever 
heard on this subject is from a 999 (British 911) operator.  A coach 
was driving behind a car with four kids literally bouncing around the 
back seat; no one was strapped in.  They exited the motorway and 
approached the roundabout, and when the car in proceded on to the 
roundabout a 2-year-old boy *fell out the back door window*.  The 
coach driver reacted by driving his vehicle *over* the child (who was 
small enough to fit between the wheels) and stopping, so that is was 
not possible for any other vehicle to come in contact with the 
child.  By the time the emergency services arrived the so-called 
father was banging on the door of the coach, threatening and yelling 
at the coach driver for parking his coach over the boy!!  By the 
grace of Someone Up There the boy was completely unharmed, and I can 
only hope that social services were called in to, at the very least, 
give the parents a few parenting tips.

As my friend always says, you need a licence to fish, but anyone can 
become a parent.

Incredible...

Mary Ann
(Whose car *never* leaves the driveway until everyone is strapped in 
safely)