And you are LUCKY! I can say this, not from some "study" that was done, but from hands on experience. In the last 13 years, I have operated roughly 6 major motor vehicle accidents a year, so figure roughly 78 major car accidents. Extricated an average of 3 people per accident, so I've cut roughly 230 people out of cars. So out of 230 people... exactly TWO have sustained fewer injuries as a direct result of not wearing a seat belt. I know both incidents well as for both of them, we looked and said, "WOW, lucky they didn't wear their seatbelt today or this could have been much worse". I can't tell you how many I have looked at and said "if only they had their seatbelt on, they would probably be walking away right now". And I haven't seen an accident yet that the person sustained greater injuries due to the seatbelt (this is a tough thing to judge, so I am basing it off the types of injuries they sustained and where the car was damaged and where they may have been thrown had they not worn their seatbelt). Much of the "myth" that seatbelts cause greater injuries are based on facts BEFORE shoulder straps were in use. Lap belts only can cause greater injuries, but that is why they moved to shoulder straps as well (and airbags are a wonderful creation for the occupants... horrible for EMS workers if they don't deploy on impact... they have a frightening tendency to fail) So if you want to continue to gamble on that 0.8% chance that you will walk away because of not wearing a belt, go right ahead. Me... I buckle up every time I am in a car, regardless of what seat I am in (and I won't move a car I am driving until the front passenger is buckled in... I do leave rear seats up to the riders). Oh, but I do have to agree with you... if you fail to wear a belt, it is you that gets hurt, no one else. I have not seen ONE accident where someone that failed to wear a belt caused a greater injury on anyone but themselves. (However, I can give you stories of load shift that have caused greater injuries... in my opinion, it is more dangerous to have unsecured objects in the car than unsecured passengers). -chris <http://www.mythtech.net>