[Kevin in NJ]

Lets take opinion out of the argument.

The science says that seat belts are going help you much more than hurt you.

YES there are times were seat belts are not going to be a good thing. The vast majority of the times the seat belt is your friend. I do not know about you, but I prefer to make my bets on a table stacked more in my favor. You are much less likely to lose.

The problem is psychological as the few accidents that the seat belt is a problem are also the accidents that make the news.
So out of the few thousand accidents that happened that day the bad accident that someone might have gotten hurt due to freak problems makes national attention. Then everyone decides maybe seat belts may be a bad thing. What you missed it is the overwhelming number minor accidents that happen each day where people are needlessly hurt from not wearing seat belts.

Ride on an ambulance for 14 years and you get a different picture. I have been to hundreds of accidents and taken people to the hospital for very preventable injuries. Only one freak accident did I see where seat belts would have made it worse. In that case a Ford Escort was made about 3 foot wide in the middle when hitting 2 telephone poles. The driver broke her arm and the passenger I am sure had life long back injuries.

Seat belts are about percentages. The science has demonstrated that you are significantly better off with seat belts.

Clearly that car was not a Model except in shape. It was a kit car and if it had an A title it was not legal.