Here's why you wear a seat belt with ROPS system

[Bisleybob]

Yes, that would be a retrospective study crunching numbers on roll-overs, which is good information, but to draw a conclusion that seatbelts save 99% of lives is inaccurate. You'd have to repeat all those roll-overs reversing whether the seat belt was worn or not, to draw an accurate conclusion. That's not going to happen. It does in the car industry, they crash test, varying the parameters to gain accurate conclusions.

My statement was more to the point of ... in a situation where there is potential for a rollover, what saves more lives? Seat belts, or something else? I'm saying something else. Straps to prevent a load from shifting to prevent the roll over. Wheel spacers to widen the footprint and increase the amount of force needed to cause a roll over. Properly positioned ballast to prevent the roll over. Going straight up a hill as opposed to ascending at an angle to prevent a roll over. Inspecting the terrain so you can avoid unexpected dips/holes/loose ground/etc so you avoid a roll over. An inclinometer mounted to your dash so you know exactly how far tilted your tractor so you can avoid a roll over. etc, etc.

My point being, a retrospective roll over study does not give an accurate picture of what saves lives in a potential roll over situation. I am more concerned about what is going to happen on my tractor than I am about what has happened in past roll overs and if they were wearing a seat belt or not. I'd rather look at the circumstances that led to the roll over and use safety measures to prevent it than to ignore those factors and wear a seatbelt thinking "the study says I'm 99% safe". I would like to think that most of us here would rather spend a little more time analyzing the situation, and a little more concentration on what we are doing at any given time to prevent a roll over. The reality is that roll overs still happen, not because of seat belt use or non use but because of not analyzing the situation and not concentrating of what is happening.

I hope that the next time anyone is in a situation where there is the potential for enough force to cause a roll over, they stop and think and do what they can to prevent it. Stay safe and make wise choices out there. Wear a seat belt, wear a helmet, install and airbag if you wish, but don't rely on them to save your life. Rely on yourself and your choices.

Well put.

 

[NHSleddog]

Why would a seat-belt study as it applies to ROPS and Roll-overs .... include any statistics that do not involve roll-overs?
Would a brake-efficiency study include examples of brakes never-applied? Would a study comparing the temperature at which water boils at sea-level versus on top of Mt Olympia ...include comparisons of water which is not heated?

The ONLY information of effectiveness of seat belt usage when ROPs-equipped tractors roll-over.... is when seat-belts are worn....or not worn..... when ROPs-equipped tractors are rolled.

People in bed or in tractors that didn’t roll over are not germane.

 

[GreensvilleJay]

re: Why would a seat-belt study as it applies to ROPS and Roll-overs .... include any statistics that do not involve roll-overs?

It kinda depends on who'se paying for the 'study'. Often there is an 'agenda' and of course the public is never allowed to see the RAW DATA, just the results of 'them' massaging the raw data to whatever agenda they have.

 

[NHSleddog]

re: Why would a seat-belt study as it applies to ROPS and Roll-overs .... include any statistics that do not involve roll-overs?

It kinda depends on who'se paying for the 'study'. Often there is an 'agenda' and of course the public is never allowed to see the RAW DATA, just the results of 'them' massaging the raw data to whatever agenda they have.

LOL - Right.

Why does the graph look like a hokey stick? "I don't know, thats just the way it came out...."

 

[i7win7]

What could possibly go wrong?

 

[dirtydeed]

What could possibly go wrong?

hahaha. Those screen captures look like a warning label!

 

[NHSleddog]

What could possibly go wrong?

Obviously he needed another guy on the front. See this is why a little critical thinking is so important and often times avoids the whole accident to begin with.

 

[Freeheeler]

NASD - Safe Tractor Operation: Rollover prevention

Tractor Fatalities According to the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH), about 250 people are killed each year in tractor accidents. Rollovers account for more than half of these fatalities, despite decades of effort by tractor manufacturers and farm safety professionals to

nasdonline.org

This was stolen from another thread. Some really good info on how to avoid a roll over.

 

[D2Cat]

An interesting idea, for anyone really concerned about their own safety and a ROPS is important to use while on their tractor, do you have the same focus on your personal health? Do you keep your blood pressure, cholesterol, blood sugar, weight and physical activity in medical norms or do you just blow off any inclination to have them in balance?

If your life is important, doesn't it all fit together?

 

[Ikc1990]

Might be a good time to have those air bags and be wearing a helmet though

Wheres my darn crayons if I got my helmet I need crayons lmao....but only the original set the new technology type with 80 colors will confuses me...

 

[NHSleddog]

Where I live, I mostly see the Kubota/Deer SCUT's wandering around a McMansion with ROPS DOWN and an operator in loafers drinking something, listening to something (provided by bose I'm sure). A real picture of safety. And they are probably wearing the seatbelt - ROFLMAO.

 

[GreensvilleJay]

re: wandering around a McMansion with ROPS DOWN and an operator in loafers drinking something, listening to something (provided by bose I'm sure). A real picture of safety. And they are probably wearing the seatbelt -

That sounds like the guy across the street.. brags he can cut 2 acres of grass in about 20 minutes with his fancy ($$$) zeroturn.

 

[Old_Paint]

NASD - Safe Tractor Operation: Rollover prevention

Tractor Fatalities According to the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH), about 250 people are killed each year in tractor accidents. Rollovers account for more than half of these fatalities, despite decades of effort by tractor manufacturers and farm safety professionals to

nasdonline.org

This was stolen from another thread. Some really good info on how to avoid a roll over.

Well, if you ask most HSE officers, the best way to avoid a tractor roll-over is to not get on a tractor. The first step in any safety objective is to eliminate the hazard. If we get rid of all tractors, there can be no tractor rollover.

 

[Freeheeler]

Any HSE officer hired to instruct tractor operators in safe operation that said "to be safe, don't operate the tractor" would be fired. They are certified in instructing/training safe operation of tasks and equipment, not in avoidance of said tasks and equipment.
I'm not sure why there is confusion. We are not talking about how to avoid dying by not using a tractor, we are talking about not doing something stupid on your tractor that gets you killed. Do something stupid while wearing a seatbelt, you may or may not die. Do something stupid while not wearing a seatbelt, you may or may not die. Concentrate on what you're doing and don't do something stupid, seatbelt or not, you won't die from the tractor.
I thought this thread started out as a helpful debate on simple seatbelt use vs safe tractor use practices. If reading this it helps someone avoid a roll over, then it's all worth it. At this point though, it feels less like a debate and more like me beating my head against the wall for no reason. I'm gonna go finish building some dirt jumps in the side yard with my tractor and quit looking at this thread. Stay safe out there and make good decisions.

 

[nbryan]

I wouldn't classify myself as a data denier, I've never said that seatbelts didn't save lives. I don't deny the numbers in the study, but I also don't deny the numbers that aren't mentioned in the study. Those studies don't mention that 100% of lives are saved by avoiding the rollover in the first place. 129 lives save by the seatbelt. How many millions of lives saved by the operator not rolling over in the first place? I'd rather choose to concentrate on what I'm doing and not tip over then to wear my seatbelt and hope for the best. I'm not saying to never wear a seatbelt, I'm saying that if you pay attention to what you're doing and understand the laws of physics, the tip overs can be avoided and the seatbelt becomes a non-issue. I'm certain that if you got the data from that study and looked at the cause of the tip overs, they would be from operator error. A few might be mechanical failure, but isn't that operator error too, not maintaining your equipment? Except for that sink hole pictured earlier, getting caught in that would be plain bad luck

Sooner or later something not at all under your control is going to screw up or break. While paying full attention or not.

Sooner or later!

 

[D2Cat]

Bottom line is we can only be as safe as we know how to act and respond to unknowns. Statistically we are going to live about 78 years. Things don't go as planned it will be shorter, take care of yourself it may be longer. Live life, quit worrying!