Hey...
For Firefighters who plan on attending, Captain Shane Stewart's funeral has been scheduled for 10 a.m. tomorrow at the Union Colony Civic Center, 701 10th Ave., in Greeley. The 33-year-old Stewart died in the Line of Duty early Saturday morning when his fire apparatus rolled and he was ejected. He was a Captain on the Ault-Pierce Fire Department, and he left a wife and two young children.
In addition to losing a firefighter and friend, the department also has to face the fact Stewart wasn't wearing his seat belt when he crashed. "He did everything right," said spokesman Capt. Roger Moore of the Eaton Fire Department. "He wasn't speeding or driving recklessly. But he wasn't wearing a seat belt, and he died...if there was anything good that can come of this terrible thing," Moore said sadly, "it would be that other firefighters will understand how important seat belts are." Our sincere condolences to the Ault-Pierce FF's, the affected friends but especially the family, wife and kids of Captain Shane Stewart.
Anything that I say above and beyond will seem banal....for the love of God or whatever deity you worship....Buckle Up!!
I'm fixing for a fight today....give me one rational reason why you don't wear your seatbelt......c'mon.....I dare you.....
omg....yes....how did we manage to evolve from guppies, to orangutans, to big dumb caveman, through the Renaissance, space flight and so on and so forth.....and then we take one MILLION steps back to dumb caveman status again;
Here's the fake seatbelt story....it's mind boggling, and it's true: (I believe Billy G. refers to him as the Seatbelt Bonehead):
From "The Secret List"
UNBELTED MORONIC BONEHEAD: Have you heard about the New Zealand driver who used a fake car seat belt to fool police so he didn't have to wear his seat belt? Well, he sure fooled them!! The "seat belt faker" was killed in a head-on crash. Ivan Segedin refused to wear a seat belt while driving and had been fined 32 times in the past five years for not wearing one. Segedin, 39, predictably died in a crash on July 22 last year from multiple injuries when his car crossed the road and collided head-on with an oncoming vehicle.
Though his car was fitted with seat belts, an extra belt with a long strap had been knotted above the seat belt on the driver's side, providing a belt to simply sit over the driver's shoulder. This created the illusion that a seat belt was being worn when it was not. It also created a non-illusion as to the qualifications that he head for the title of moron. His fatal injuries were caused when he was thrown forward on to the steering wheel in a low-impact crash. His fake seatbelt was found, unharmed.
Shirley's post reminded me of an incident a few years ago in which an ambulance returning from the hospital rolled over. Clear weather, Sunday morning, little traffic, the driver passed out momentarily and lost control. Before I got to the scene I had a pretty good idea who was riding in the bus.
They were all banged up, especially the medic in the back who took a beating from the gurney and miscellaeous loose equipment. But they survived because they were all buckled in. Otherwise, the front compartment passengers would have been ejected and the person in the rear thrown around like a pebble in the cement mixer.
Seat belts - all of the time - even though they aren't required.
Isn't it ironic that as emergency responders we see the results day in day of people not wearing seat belts (ejections, horrific injuries, etc) adn yet we don't condone it for ourselves (And make loads of BS excuses!!!) ??????
This is still not a good reason not to wear one. Just because the policy is in writing that it is up to your discretion, does not mean, "Don't wear it". You will still die if you're ejected from the vehicle, no matter what the policy is. Our department has the same, "to your discretion" bullshit in our SOP as well. It's a liability thing, not a YOUR SAFETY thing. The city feels it is in their best interest not to be sued if you die. Great, so what about your family. You didn't HAVE to wear it according to your SOP, so you're going to make the conscious decision not to? (Not you directly of course).
Being given the choice is not a good reason to go without wearing it.