Seat Belts Why You Should Buckle Up

Woman using seatbelt. Author State Farm, Flikr, from Wikipedia.

Problem
If you get told 'it isn't necessary' just tell them, it is for me because my insurance company demands it. They won't pay out if I am not covered by safety precuastions.

Taxis
I sometimes get the same message from drivers in taxis. 'No need to do up the seat belt.'

Tuk-tuks
If you are in Cambodia, and your hotel sends a vehicle to collect you from the airport, it could be alimo, or the local tuk-tuk. Our open-sided tuk-tuk, with a motorbike up front, was open sided. My immediate fear was of losing my hat which kept lefting in the breeze. Despite the lack of seatbelts, when we returned to the airport, in the relative safety of an ordinary car with seatbelts, I was a little disappointed.

I see no taxi. That tuk-tuk is our taxi! Cambodia. Photo by Angela Lansbury. Copyright.

So, it is quite a relief to be in a taxi with a seat-belt. I am wary of riding without seatbelts. My friend was in a car accident. She was seated in the middle with no seat belt. She was thrown forward. Whose insurance was going to pay up?

Insurance
If you were an insurance company agent, you would be saying your company would not pay out for injuries caused by no seat belt. In some countries the driver is held responsible if passengers don't do up seatbelts and the car makes an irritating noise.

You do the seat belt up in the back for four reasons:
1 It protects the back seat passenger from  injury.
2 It protects the front seat passenger from injury when the back seat passenger rams into the front seat - which can kill the front seat passenger. See end note a).
3 It saves endless hassle ith insurance companies which won't pay up or reduce the payout because the passenger is deemed to have contributed to the extent of the injuries.
4 You can lose friends over disputes about the fault leading to the injury.

a) Wikipedia gives this evidence:

1.  Ichikawa M, Nakahara S, Wakai S; Nakahara; Wakai (January 2002). "Mortality of front-seat occupants attributable to unbelted rear-seat passengers in car crashes". Lancet. 359 (9300): 43–4. doi:10.1016/S0140-6736(02)07279-3. PMID 11809187.

Seatbelt sign warning light on dahsboard of vehicle. Photo by F Sultana in Wikipedia.

Author
Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photogapher, author and speaker.

Cambodian Traffic, hooting, buffalos, monkeys

Problem
Siem Reap has no traffic lights.

Answer
If your tuk-tuk overtakes another tuk-tuk which overtakes two side-by-side scooters and you encounter another tuk-tuk veering straight towards you, simply toot three times as a warning. Toot-toot-toot.

As a passenger you stop worrying after the first four minutes. You are too busy holding onto your hat.

It's a bit like India. If a bike wants to turn left on a four lane dual carriageway, then it veers left. If your tuk-tuk wants to do a U-turn, it does a U-turn.

White horned oxen and grey water buffalo munch along and mooch along in the fields beside the road. Occasionally a four legged friend, such as a dog or buffalo, decides to amble across.

As you drive through the cool dappled forest towards the temples you see people sleeping in hammocks slung between the trees. Local children are not watching TV; children are sitting in groups mesmerised, watching monkeys scampering along the grass.

Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer, author and speaker.

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