How ironic . . .
 

It is very sad to see a young guy die in such a senseless manner. I wonder how his parents feel about about seatbelts.

http://www.snopes.com/autos/accident/seatbelt.asp

what holding you back

Mike

This is a case of cutting off your own safety to spite the law....I don't wear a seatbelt because the law tells me to, I do it for my own safety....conversley if the law said not to wear a seat belt, I would be the first to break that law....just so the government would have to take care of me in my old age....make em pay...yeah!

The kid may or may not have been spared by wearing a seat belt. In any case, his cause is a worthy one -- who has the authority to instruct us in our personal decisions? I resent being pulled over by cops for not wearing a seat belt. It is a scandalous waste of constabulary resources. Also, I have a different story: a friend of my family whose car was crushed between two semis on a highway pass in Washington state survived only because he was not wearing a seat belt; he was thrown clear. His wife, who was wearing a belt, was killed instantly. All life is anecdotal.

There are, of course, some cases where it is safer to not be wearing a seatbelt, but since it is impossible to know what they are, or to anticipate them in advance it is statistically much safer to wear one.

DOT estimates that the current 80% rate of seatbelt useage saves 15,200 lives and $50 billion in economic costs associated with traffic related crashes, injuries, and deaths per year.

Personally I don't lie awake at night worrying about this particular loss of personal freedom.