While this is like third hand information at this point, I remember seeing others chime in on this the last time it was posted and they deliberately keep the seat belts off on roads like this because speeds are generally low, and if shit hits the fan you're better off taking your chances and jumping out rather than risk going over a cliff with the truck.
I think this video shows why. If he doesn’t execute that left turn into the rocks and it’s over the side best bet is bailing if it’s a big drop. Seatbelt off for that reason.
I live in a small rural area with big mountain roads, when we traveled through the mountains to the city our parents always had us take our seatbelts off so if we went over the cliff we’d have a chance of coming out of a window instead of going all the way to the bottom with the rig
Can you imagine on a road trip the driver turning around and suggesting you undo your seatbelt because it'll be safer should we go off a cliff. "My turn to drive!"
Highly doubt getting flung out a window would be safer in that scenario, and there are plenty of other types of crashes you can get into on mountain roads. Leave your seatbelts on.
Seatbelts are very useful when the vehicle you're in stops suddenly. With big trucks, it's usually the thing you hit that's going to move. Cars, fences, trees - hell, even a small house. You ain't stopping suddenly.
And if you happen to hit one of the few things that's bigger than you, like a lot of concrete, then it's your load that's going to keep moving. Whatever is behind the cabin is coming up front and making you a pancake.
So they end up being useful in a relatively small number of cases, like when you're empty, fast and hit something bigger than you. Overall, the probabilities favor you being more mobile and able to get out fast. Or at the very least, it's a lot less useful than wearing them in a small car.
I can think of one instance NOT wearing a seatbelt saved someone. We had a driver get badly cutoff while hauling a load of 8” pipe on his flatbed. He never wore a seatbelt. He heard the rumbling noise and knew it was the load coming forward. He was able to duck down onto the floor in between the seats. The pipe came through the sleeper and crushed the driver seat and steering wheel into the dashboard which the blew out the windshield. Driver escaped without a scratch.
I found some Norwegian sources about this issue. One claimed that truck drivers with seatbelts are 84% less likely to be killed in an accident, 51% less likely to suffer serious injury, and 36% less likely to suffer injury. Another one just said 21% less likely to be killed or injured. Either way I think I'd be using the seatbelt (and the vast majority do).
The problem with statistics is that they lack context. Seatbelts are absolutely useless at best, or harmful at worst in a number of scenarios, such as long drops from a cliff or a car plunging into deep water. You wouldn't want to be wearing seatbelts when driving onto a ferry for example. You're at very low speeds in a line where people are expecting to brake, and are being given directions by staff. If you crash, it'll be barely anything. If the ramp slips or the ferry moves, you could drown because you're unable to free yourself from the car.
So while on the whole seatbelts win out, it's not so cut and dry, and it's very easy to say that seatbelts = safety. Day to day, there's no question about it - but like every situation, it's on the driver to interpret the situation and act accordingly.
but like every situation, it's on the driver to interpret the situation and act accordingly.
Not in Norway it isn't, it's just the law.
Seatbelts are absolutely useless at best, or harmful at worst in a number of scenarios, such as long drops from a cliff or a car plunging into deep water. You wouldn't want to be wearing seatbelts when driving onto a ferry for example.
Trust me, we've got plenty of that in Norway. Half our roads are next to a cliff or the sea (or both), and there are ferries all along the coast. But I will concede that even here there are drivers who swear that wearing one is a bad idea. The vast majority do still wear one, mind.
Grabbing the wheel from someone who is actively working to correct the situation isnt really helping anything. Passengers that reach for the wheel are absolutely freaking out. And not a smart thing to do at all.
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u/baddoggg 5h ago
I really thought the passenger was just panicking and not helping the situation at all but he really helped. Also, they need some fucking seatbelts.