I know a few people who don't wear seat belts. Normally, as someone with libertarian leanings, I wouldn't have a problem with this. (This would almost certainly be the case if society weren't also required to pay for their treatment after they have been in an accident)
My problem stems from those individuals who cite, as a rationale for their decision, stories of people who have lived after being thrown through a windshield. Their conclusion is that a seat belt might somehow similarly prevent them from escaping death after a bad accident. In short, they use the stories of these survivors as justification for their decision.
I will admit that, while rare, such events do occur and people can occasionally be saved by being thrown through a windshield. What my friends who espouse this line of thinking miss is that there are literally thousands of people who died precisely because they were thrown into or through a windshield.
Dead men don't talk so it is only natural that we will only hear the stories of those rare few who were fortunate enough to survive.
An element of unlearning us to see what we can't see and hear what we can't hear. This is hard to do but if you listen closely you might just hear the lesson of unlearning in the whispers of the thousands who didn't live to tell the tale of their encounter with the windshield.
If I haven't been clear enough, I encourage you to buckle up. If you need a little inspiration, just watch this short but powerful video.
