I just read this whole thread from beginning to now. Not sure if the OP was serious or if bored and felt like throwing a match on a pile of gas soaked rags and laughing at the explosion and ensuing inferno. Regardless...
Some may know I’ve posted a couple of things about safety (which some have appreciated more than others) so I’m not adverse to reasonable safety measures. However, this reminds me of a conversation I had with my ex-city girl wife first time she was around while I was running a chainsaw. She said it looked incredibly dangerous and there had to be a safer alternative so we had to use something safer. Asked her what’s harder to cut in half, my leg or this 30” white oak? Being she’s reasonably bright, she replied the oak was much harder to cut. I agreed and told her that being the case, anything that would reduce the tree to firewood would also easily cause harm to a person. We went back to work and haven’t discussed it since. That doesn’t mean I’m careless with it or don’t have great respect for it.
To some degree, tractors are the same. If it has the power to run a bush hog, it has the power to wring you out like a dirty dishrag; if it has the weight and power to level a road with a box scrape, it has the weight and power to run over you and crush you.
At some point safety measures can render the machine virtually or actually unusable for its intended purpose which necessarily obviates the point of manufacturing and buying the machine. PTOs that don’t work in reverse or require an override every time on some smaller units come close to that already. Cars are probably more dangerous than tractors, more people are just used to them.
Personally, I don’t think it’s practical to wear a seatbelt 100% of the time in all scenarios. If you want to wear one at all times feel free.
Some really smart and wise people have made one mistake in a lifetime and didn’t get a second chance. But also true a complete dumba** can kill themselves with a garbage bag and/or a handful of bath salts.
