Effective communication

[elvey]

Originally Posted by DrStrabismus

It's nonsense if you remove the words "on average", or wilfully misinterpret their meaning.

Indeed, I feel that chrisretusn keeps saying stuff that's blatantly untrue about me, such as that I said stuff I didn't say.
So I clicked save at http://www.emaildiscussions.com/prof...ignore&u=20752.

BTW, apropos Tsunami's comment about seatbelts in taxis: I would Taxis typically drive in traffic that's too slow to be involved in high-speed crashes that result in fatalities, have better-than-average drivers, and take passengers on short trips. So I would not be surprised if statistics showed that taxi passengers benefit relatively little from wearing seatbelts. But unlike the 60:1 stat, I haven't actually seen or calculated any stats to show this.

[chrisretusn]

Originally Posted by DrStrabismus

It's nonsense if you remove the words "on average", or wilfully misinterpret their meaning.

It is still nonsense even with the words "on average". Please explain what you mean by willfully misinterpret their meaning. Am I "taking it out of context" perhaps?

Every SECOND people spend putting on a seat belt, saves, on average, a MINUTE of their lives.

The statement is malarkey. The amount of time it takes me to put on a seat belt has absolutely nothing to do with saving time on my life.

[SusanUKF]

We always wear our seat belts; but, to be perfectly honest, probably the biggest reason we do, and insist that all of our passengers do, is for the legalities of it and the heavily imposed fines that one gets if one is caught not wearing it.

I have mixed views on the safety factors; as my own father, many years ago was in a very serious car accident and only survived it because he didn't have his seat belt on and was thrown from the driver's seat. That area of the car was totally crushed, so if he had of had the belt on, he would have perished on impact. However, in other accidents, seat belts have saved people's lives.

My husband is a terrible driver, and I am terrified of dying with him half the time, and he thinks he is amazing... so I guess a lot of bad driver's think they are really good drivers.. just saying.

Susan

[William9]

We all have annectodal stories of how it may have been worse with wearing a seat belt -- but it's probabilities. You should want to take your chances with the option most likely to help prevent injury and death.

[elvey]

Every SECOND spent putting on a seat belt, saves, on average, a MINUTE of human life. In other words, the average return* is about 6000%.

*That is, when averaged over the whole driving population. Obviously, for each individual, the return is either 0 or tremendous. (Duh!)

The above statement is false because the fact that the world revolves around you means you get to define "average" to refer to you and you alone, instead of to the population as a whole, and ignore the footnote. (P.S. The "rolling eyes" smiley stands for sarcasm.)

[chrisretusn]

Originally Posted by elvey

Indeed, I feel that chrisretusn keeps saying stuff that's blatantly untrue about me, such as that I said stuff I didn't say.

When have I said something "blatantly untrue" about you? I guess you are talking my calling your statistic outlandish personally? Its not an attack on you, just the statistic. If you have been offended in some way, well sorry about that.

Originally Posted by elvey

The above statement is false because the fact that the world revolves around you means you get to define "average" to refer to you and you alone, instead of to the population as a whole, and ignore the footnote. (P.S. The "rolling eyes" smiley stands for sarcasm.)

Were is this footnote outside your post above? It is easy to ignore things that are not there.

Your first post:

Originally Posted by elvey

Statistically speaking, for every SECOND you spend putting on a seat belt, you save a MINUTE of your life. That's an awesome investment, obviously worth making, every time, when considered that way, I think.


(Most people already wear seat belts; I wonder if ads noting a similar statistic would help cut texting while driving rates.).

What is the reference of the quote? So far you have not provide that answer.

Originally Posted by Tsunami

Where do you get this statistic from?

Originally Posted by elvey

Tsunami: Instead of answering your question, I'll say this: You can derive it yourself, and you'll get a number in the same ballpark. You just need to look up a few basic statistics and do a little math, and you should get pretty close to what a professional statistician would find.
Give it a try and let us know how you do. Start with lifetime odds of dying in a car accident (1 in 84), time to put on a seat belt, times per lifetime you do that, odds of death in an accident with vs without a seat belt...

So... as I see it, you are the reference, you created it.

By the way I see only four of us have voted. It a 50/50 draw so far. I voted 'CLICK IT OR TICKET'. I don't think there is any sort of ad campaign that will convince folks who are not wearing seat belts now, to start. If they are not wearing one these days, then it is going to take more than a commercial to get them to do so.

This is an interesting topic though. As I think about seat belts and my usage of them. I was required to wear seat belts long before they became law in most states. I've been wearing them so long it's become second nature to buckle up. It does not feel right driving without one, though I could adjust if needed and have since here in the Philippines set belts are only required to be worn in the front seat. It took me awhile to get used to riding in the back of a car without seat belts.

Seat belt laws are basically a joke.. They only serve to put cash in the municipality coffers or the traffic enforcers pocket. Here if you are ticketed your license is taken, you ticket serves as a temporary license. Later you have to travel back to the municipality you were ticketed in to pay your fine and retrieve you license. This can be a major pain if you get that ticket outside of your home town. It's a joke because In a jeepney only the driver and front seat passengers are required to "wear" a seat belt (actually only a shoulder strap). Nothing for the packed passengers in the back sitting facing each other on bench type seats along the left and right sides on the jeepney. Sometimes depending on local, there are passengers on top and hanging on outside on the rear (which is illegal but often ignored. The front seat passengers (normally two) share that seat belt and only when passing by a "check point", the strap in is frequently held in the hand as we pass the "check point". These are not functioning seat belt like those in cars. They only serve to keep from getting ticketed. Same goes for buses, only the driver must wear one. Traveling by bus here is an adventure.


If I had not been forced to wear them, if it was not the law, you know what... I probably would not wear them. I have had a couple of accidents in the past, some wearing, some not. I am still here.