x5 + snow

[davintosh]

Originally Posted by alex77ae

I knew someone would mention it... the reason i do not buckle up is.
in MA state its a secoundary seat belt law, meaning cops cant just pull you over and give you a ticket for no seat belt. Unless your speeding and dont have a seat belt on.

I've been watching TONS, and i mean TONS of dash cam video crashes. And it seems that the more people that fly out of the window during an impact are safer than stuck inside and crushed. So seat belts sometimes save lives and sometimes dont.
However, I do buckle up for long drives or high way driving. But regular city short stops driving, I dont, especially if i need to move around a lot to see from all angles.... this video proves the seatbelt- Luckiest Truck Driver in Russia - YouTube
just have a pillow or blanket with you and fly out of the windsheild and you will be fine.

I sure hope this is a case of you trolling... That video proves nothing, nor does your claim of watching tons of dash cam video crashes. That Russian truck driver is indeed lucky, but in that crash he would've been no worse off if he'd been belted in. In most any other crash at highway speeds he definitely would've been better off belted in. Even on short trips close to home, you're far better off being belted in.

Here are some photos of the remnants of a car I was driving when we had a run-in with a cow on a dark highway.




A pillow or blanket wouldn't have helped us in that one, but the seatbelts sure did. We walked away from that, a bit bruised to be sure... First impact was upside down on the front-right corner; if we hadn't been belted in, we would've been ejected, and I guarantee you we wouldn't have landed on our feet, we would've been greasy, bloody smears on the pavement. BTW, it was me, my then-very pregnant wife, and our then-18-month-old daughter in the car. The daughter is now 25, in her second year of med school, and the son my wife was carrying is now 23, and just as much a BMW nut as me, as are their two younger brothers.
(If you've got a little time to burn, the whole story is here.)

By the way, I did a little snow sliding in the X5 last night as well; we got a fresh load of about 6 inches yesterday, and it was a blast! The rear-drive e32 was even better, with the Blizzaks and the front wheels not trying to drag me around too!