[WalterBright]

> if you were somehow able to prove that seatbelts basically never helped drivers avoid causing injuries/deaths to others

I'm not arguing it never happened. I'm suggesting it doesn't happen often enough to be a major factor in seatbelt laws. Laws addressing highly unlikely events often don't take into account other effects.

For example, when seatbelt laws were proposed, many people reported that they were saved from certain death by being thrown from their car. For example, if the car caught fire. Or the car went off a steep embankment. I don't recall any anecdotes about thrown people causing other accidents.

[wizofaus]

"Laws addressing highly unlikely events often don't take into account other effects." Agree 100%, but I'm not convinced you could call such events "highly unlikely". I don't have enough data to say.

[WalterBright]

I don't have data, either. But I do recall the debates about making seatbelts the law. The talk was always about whether one was safer being thrown from a car than staying in the car. I never heard mention about being thrown from a car causing another accident.

After the law passed, I heard many people say they wouldn't wear the belt out of fear of being trapped in a burning car.

It's just that these discussions have been completely forgotten since, and the assumption is that seatbelts are always better.

I wear a seatbelt because the odds are better. I'm aware there are cases where it isn't.