I remember when I was young and road in trucks with parents and family and friends they all used to say " you don't have to wear a seatbelt in a pickup." Now I drive myself a 96 Dodge 1500, but I always wear my seat belt and tell anyone that rides with me "you don't have to wear your seat belt but if I get pulled over your paying the ticket"

@Mark

"worth noting that pickup trucks make up only 25 percent of the total autos in the state"

Not a relevant stat! The 800 pound gorilla of these stats is the number of passenger miles driven.

We have 2 cars at my house, bought the same time. One has 12k miles on it and the other has 55k. The latter has a much higher likelihood of being in a wreck, all other things being equal.

Anybody who doesn't wear a seatbelt is just ignorant in my opinion or they don't care about their life.

I wonder if they could get in some kind of legal trouble for profiling. Targeting a certain group is usually frowned on, and they are admitting they will be doing it.

Here we go again with those wanting a nanny state to control everything we do.

I wear a seatbelt on my own, I do not need a law to try and make me.

With all the real problems we have in this country the politicians are still looking for ways to create more tax dollars for them to spend because that is what this is really all about.

Funny how they never release the stats on how many have been killed while wearing their seatbelts and yes there have been millions killed in crashes wearing seatbelts.

A seatbelt is not a magic belt that will keep you from being killed in a crash.

If someone is stupid enough to think they can survive a crash without wearing a seatbelt, then they need to be removed from the gene pool. Can't fix stupid. Oh yes you can, just have them not wear their seatbelt.

None of their damn business who does and doesn't wear their seatbelt! If you like this crap, move to Russia.

Common Sense, its the governments job to provide safety for its citizens, it has to protect those people who are to stupid to know to buckle up as they pay taxes as well.

When people ride in my truck I always tell them buckle up or were not going anywhere. I don't want that blood on my hands.

"Here we go again with those wanting a nanny state to control everything we do.

I wear a seatbelt on my own, I do not need a law to try and make me. "

@Ram Big Horn 1500, driving is a privilege issued, licensed, and controlled by the government. When you apply for a driver's license, you explicitly agree to abide by all laws governing driving in exchange for the privilege. If you don't like the laws, you have two choices:
- speak to your elected officials about changing them
- don't drive
This is not being "a nanny state" - you agreed to this.

@roadtrip.

If what you're saying is true, 30 percent of the drivers in my state would have a legal car insurance policy.

At present they do not. When they're caught, the state slaps their wrist and jerks their license for it. BUT THEY STILL DRIVE.

So, what exactly has the state done to make the roads safer for those of us who DO comply with the laws?

Anyone else waiting for the April sales?

Earlier this year a relative of mine was killed when she lost control of her car.She was NOT wearing her seatbelt and was thrown out of her vehicle.Her passenger WAS wearing a seatbelt and was only banged up a bit.

I wore my seatbelt before it was law,and always forced whoever was riding with me to do the same,or walk...no exceptions.

I even chose to wear a helmet when I was riding motorcycles,before that became law.

Just like wearing/not wearing seatbelts is made by individuals choice irregardless of the law,they should face the consequences when busted,just like driving under the influence.

And as it was already pointed out,when you sign your license,you agree to abide by the state laws governing said PRIVILEGE,not a right as decreed by our laws etc.

This has nothing to do with 'nanny state' as there are many laws that were required to TRY and insure safer vehicle operations to you the driver,as well as others on the road.

As was stated you can not fix stupid, and if you believe you have a chance of dying because you are wearing a seatbelt then practice removing it while driving so you can do it without looking, same as you should practice putting your vehicle in neutral when braking in icy conditions.
If you get caught not wearing a seatbelt just tell them you are a patriot, freeloader, and I am sure you will be exempted.
Just a thought!

Don't be a girlie man! REAL MEN don't wear seatbelts. I don't wear seatbelts and I AM PROUD OF IT!!!

Detroit Rock, sounds like you have the IQ of a Rock.

Not wearing a seatbelt in 2014 goes up there in ignorance with those who willfully smoke because they don't realize or chose to ignore that it is bad for them.

Its really just sad that the government is having to force people to wear their seatbelt. Its like a grown man who's mom still wipes his a.. er hindparts for him.

@RoadTrip

What you have posted is so bogus. Proof is here in Florida we have a seatbelt law, yet those on a motorcycle do not have to wear a helmet.

That person on a motorcycle is at far more risk of injury or death than anyone in an enclosed automobile or truck.

The fact is seatbelt laws are here for one reason and one reason only and it has nothing to do with safety. It all about collect money for the state, county and or city.

I am retired from a law enforcement agency and I have seen just as many dead people wearing a seatbelt as I have seen dead people who did not wear a seatbelt.

I spent 13 years of my career in traffic homicide and have been involved in over 1000 traffic homicide cases as 10 years of my time was spent as a supervisor over a traffic homicide squad.

Further it is not the governments job to be our nanny, the governments job is to protect American citizens from foreign enemies. Our government has gotten out of control.

The middle class has almost been completely destroyed by the politicians in this country, when the middle class is gone and it is well on its way to being gone you are going to find out just how bad our current politicians and government really is.

The wearing and using of safety gear not only protects yourself but it also protects others.

People who think they shouldn't wear a seatbelt should not be allowed to drive on public roads as they are endangering the lives of those around them.

@Big Al From Oz

That is the biggest bunch of hog wash you just posted. How does someone not wearing their seatbelt endanger someone else?

Don't try to give me the piss poor excuse that they lose control of their vehicle because they are not wearing their seatbelt.

I have worked thousands of crashes in my career to include being involved in over 1000 traffic homicide cases and not a single case was ever shown to have been the cause of not wearing their seatbelt.

@ Ram Big Horn 1500
"How does someone not wearing their seatbelt endanger someone else?"

In an MVC if you are not belted in you become a projectile:
Other occupants in the same vehicle can be killed by your body careening around the inside.

If you are not belted in, it is much more difficult to retain control of the vehicle as you are fighting the forces of the crash (even in a minor crash).

Do I need to provide more examples?

BTW, I worked as a paramedic for 21 years. I've seen it first hand.

Big Horn, Try allowing others to have a say and stop with the I'm a cop so I'm right arrogance.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JcVSQh5MbTo

@Lou_BC
He isn't no cop. He just a stupid f$ck who's been wrecking this site now for over 15 months.

Is that correct numpty.

He's a cop, you idiots!!!!

Ram Big Horn, Its been proven seat belts save lives. Even if you were a cop which I don't believe I'm sure you would see just as many people dies with seat belts on since 90% of people do where seat belts. No a Seat Belt isn't going to do anything in certain crashes but I've scene to many people get killed who didn't have to because they weren't wearing a seat belt.

@papajim: A scofflaw is a scofflaw. If an unlicensed driver gets pulled over again, they get more than a 'slap on the wrist'. In some states, each time caught after the first one means a longer visit to jail and heavier fines. Believe it or not, they DO want those scofflaws off the streets, but the only way to catch them is to catch them doing something illegal. Not wearing seat belts is illegal in every state.

"So, what exactly has the state done to make the roads safer for those of us who DO comply with the laws?"

@Roadwhale

How's the F150 coming along. Did you try the suggestion I gave you about locking out the OD and seeing if the driveability improved ?

Re: seat belts. I don't remember you being in the Sunshine State. I am. The state fails to apprehend the overwhelming majority of offenders at the wheel. Fewer than One in 2000 DUI offenses are prosecuted here. Seat belt laws are among the many that are sniffed at.

I know of crashes where people wearing their seatbelts that have been thrown from the vehicle in a crash. Just because you have a seatbelt on does not mean you are safe and can't be ejected from a vehicle.

There is also a big difference between an EMT picking up someone injured and the police who in fact investigate the crash.

This wild claim that not wearing a seatbelt makes you a pin ball inside the vehicle so therefore they are a danger to everyone else is bogus. First the crash has already happened so no matter if you are strapped in or not you are now along for the ride no matter what until the vehicles come to a stop. The only one suffering from not wearing their seatbelt is the one not wearing it.

The real fact is those in crashes who are not wearing a seatbelt are no more a danger to others than those who are wearing a seatbelt.

I have worked the crashes to back up my opinion. EMT's are at a scene for one purpose and that is to pick up the injured, they do zero investigation of the crash yet as we see here they think they are experts in crash investigation.

I have yet to see a EMT at the wrecker yards documenting everything on those crashes cars. So while I have the highest respect for EMT's when it comes to a crash investigation they are not high on the list when it comes to explaining how a crash occurred. A police officer is using all the information from the crash from the roadway markings left by the vehicles, the crash damage on the vehicles, to the injury patterns of those in the vehicles in order to place them in the seating position they were in during the crash.

I have already said that I wear a seatbelt but I do not believe in the nanny state that tells you what you have to do all the time.

Here is a nice little crash that happened for you. A man and his wife went on a cruise along with the wives girlfriend. Due to the husbands work he met them at the cruise ship in his own vehicle. When the cruise was over they husband drove his mini van home while his wife and her girlfriend drove her car. They got separated in traffic which was no big deal. Well they were traveling on I-75 (Alligator Alley) from Miami to the Sarasota area, but the husband ran off the road into the grass median and his van started to roll over ejecting him with the van overturning on top of him. The van was completely destroyed in the crash and man was dismembered. Of course traffic backs up but the wife and girlfriend pass by the crash scene and due to the damage do not even realize it is her own husband who has lost his life in the crash. She gets on her cell phone and calls her husbands cell phone and of course he does not answer but she leaves a message saying how bad this crash was and glad she was not involved. She keeps trying to reach her husband and can't and starts to get worried and calls the police and gives them a description of the vehicle he was driving and low and behold it is the fatal crash she had passed. She is told to pull over and an officer will be sent to assist her not telling her yet her husband is the involved in the crash she had passed earlier. When the officer arrives he now had the duty of informing her that her husband had been involved in a single vehicle crash on I-75 (Alligator Alley).

The traffic homicide investigation revealed this man was wearing his seatbelt when the crash occurred but was still ejected from the vehicle.

Another case was in North Florida where a couple who had just been married were involved in a crash with both of them being ejected from their SUV. The trooper in his utter laziness because they couple had been ejected told the press on the scene that they were not wearing their seatbelts. That trooper was wrong and the Florida Highway Patrol got a lot of egg on there face as the media went to the wrecker yard and filmed the vehicles for their local news and saw that both the front seatbelts were still fastened. The homicide investigator (a corporal) in his investigation found that yes the couple were in fact wearing their seatbelts when the crash had occurred. This was determined from injury patterns to the bodies and close inspection of the seatbelts.

A seatbelt will have certain marks on them in a serious crash when they restrain someone.

The point is just because you are wearing a seatbelt does not mean you will not be ejected from the seatbelt.

In my over 25 years working crashes and 13 of them working fatal crashes I never seen one case that was determined to be the cause or even a contributing factor due to someone not wearing their seatbelt.

@Ram Big Horn 1500
Cop? Traffic cop?? Any kind of a cop????

Really?? I find this very hard to believe.

Very irresponsible comments you are making on this site. Kids read this stuff. Have a read of this link.

http://www.edgarsnyder.com/product-injuries/auto/seat-belts/seat-belts-statistics.html

http://www.cdc.gov/motorvehiclesafety/seatbelts/index.html?s_cid=cs_566

You seem very much a fool.......literally.

I don't think he's a copy saying what he is saying. He says someone died when they got ejected wearing a seatbelt. I mean sure it happens but the chances of be ejected while wearing a seatbelt are far lower then when wearing one. Sure something could have cut the belt or it was not worn properly, or it was defective, anything can happen on that rare occurrence. That's like the people that say they get 25 MPG in their V8 pickup, sure it happened once going downhill with a tailwind but they'll say that's what they always get because it happened once.

@Ram Big Horn 1500 - yeah, right.

I've been to MVC's where everyone died wearing a seatbelt but that is what happens when you hit a loaded logging truck and get ran over........

I recall an MVC where a car went into a flat spin after running off the road into a shallow ditch and catching the edge of a culvert. The car was pitched back onto the road and never rolled and was on its wheels the entire time. The driver did not have a seatbelt. Centrifugal force forced the guy out between the door frame and the A-Pillar. The door never opened. He bent the steering wheel with his "death grip". He would of survived if wearing a sealbelt.

A girl in the car without a seatbelt careened around the inside and was killed when her head struck the unused seatbelt buckle with her head. It left a perfect indent mark of the shape of the buckle in her skull. An accident reconstructionalist confirmed the initial findings.

2 people in the same MVC had minor injuries due to the loose occupants.

I do not believe you are a police officer as I can come up with hundreds of stories to the contrary. BTW, my brother-in-law is a Sergeant with the RCMP.

Care to keep posting????

@PapaJim. Out of OD, it drives rather well. However, in talking to a mechanic I know, because it sat for so long the first thing I should try is to clean out the varnish from all the valves. I'm thinking Marvel Mystery Oil might be a good pick. What do you think?

As to seat belts, the law in some states don't let the patrolman pull a car over on the suspicion of no seatbelt wear (when I was in the AF I got pulled over more than once for that very reason because of the way they were mounted in my car). That law is changing in some states, and while Florida may be lenient (old fold retirement home, after all) states like Maryland and now Louisiana appear to be getting more strict--with reason.

Oh yes, as one commenter above mentioned there are SOME accidents where the seat belt does more harm than good, but they are about 1,000:1 or higher that the seatbelt saved lives that would have been lost without them. I'd much rather put the odds in my favor, thank you.

I started wearing seat belts way back in my first car--a 1964 Chevy Nova. Why? Because I didn't like the feeling of sliding around those slick fabric seats in a curve or turn--no matter where I chose to sit in the car. I have never driven a car without wearing a seat belt--unless there simply wasn't one available. As a passenger, I do the same. I haven't died yet for the wearing of them.

You might also note that Big Ram's discussion points out really, really severe crashes that are an extreme--not typical. I can show you many other cases--and even the one mentioned above--where had the victim been buckled in they would have lived.

Play the odds.
Put the odds in your favor.
Bloomin' Wear Your Seat Belts!

@roadwhale

Leave the cylinder heads alone! If the truck runs Ok in gears 1,2,3 but gets grumpy in OD, that tells you that the valves are not the problem.

Screwing with the valves will just make fixing your problem more complicated.

I still believe your ECM has a funky switch, or a funky connector. Your auto trans may have a funky solenoid on the OD upshift.

An entire ECM and harness off a used car at a junkyard is not expensive, especially compared to a valve job.

Marvel Oil won't help, or hurt, your truck. It's cheap. But don't think it will help.

You know, this argument reminds me of a trick I played on a 7-year-old girl riding in my back seat now over 30 years ago. Since I have always worn my seat belt, I insisted that the girl and her mother wear theirs. The mother did so without complaint, but the girl chose to ignore me. Mother demands the girl buckle up, and she does--but surreptitiously releases it once we get rolling thinking nobody would notice.

I told the mother what the girl had done and she threatened to have me turn around and take her back home. Girl puts seat belt back on.

This time she waits until I'm in conversation with mother and driving--not likely to notice when she again unbuckles it. I kept up the conversation with mother while checking traffic, noting that nobody is visible in my rear-view mirrors. Without changing tone I tell mother that her daughter has again unbuckled the belt, but that I wanted to teach the girl a practical lesson. Mother said OK.

I slam on the brakes--HARD! Girl slides forward in seat and hits the padded back of the mother's seat, falls to the floor and starts crying. Mother tells her to stop crying, get back in her seat and buckle her seat belt.

From that day onward, whenever that girl rode with me she put her seat belt on and kept it on until the car was stopped and the engine shut off.

P.S. I was only doing about 35mph, so physical injury to the girl was highly unlikely. Had I been doing highway speed and actually hit something, the affect on her would have been multiplied.

@PapaJim: Sorry, I was unclear. The mechanic was suggesting that for the transmission itself--adding a pint or so of a cleaner oil to the transmission fluid and driving it about 200 miles or so, then have it flushed and the filter changed.

@Roadwhale

That kind of valves. Understand. I think your tranny goes to OD from a switch on the shift column. Manually.

You can also let it shift for itself, when vehicle speed gets fast enough, around 45 mph or so, and if the load on the engine is light enough.

Because it can be switched from the tip of the shifter, there's a solenoid that acts on that instruction from the driver.

It can also shift because the ECM tells the solenoid that the key data points for the OD shift are present.

That switch will not respond to Marvel Oil, although the oil will probably make the interior of your truck smell better.

If you'll remember, I said that DOWNshifting under load is where the truck complains. It goes up into OD automatically just fine (there is no switch), but when in OD and taking a grade at any speed I've pushed it to so far (I don't normally drive 10 over the speed limit of 65 on local interstates) the truck starts chattering and shuddering. If you ease down on the throttle, you can floor it with no effect; if you slam the throttle down, it downshifts and takes off, only to repeat the action on the next uphill grade.

I don't care if you believe I was a police officer or not. I get the monthly pension check and I know the score so what you think does not mean squat.

I did not know that pickup.com was a site full of bleeding heart liberals who want to give up their freedoms.

Those who give up their freedom for security deserve neither.

@ Ram Big Horn 1500
You state;
"I did not know that pickup.com was a site full of bleeding heart liberals who want to give up their freedoms.

Those who give up their freedom for security deserve neither."

If you read my comments I'm further to the right than most who blog on this site. Particularly when it involves freedoms.

Do you know what a 'bleeding heart liberal' is??

Not wearing a seatbelt has nothing to do with freedom?? How can you translate safety into freedom??

If you don't wear your seat belt and become injured someone has to pay for your stupidity. It's generally the public.

So you believe the public should pay for your pathetic attitude because you consider wearing a seatbelt a socialist act??

Boy, that's a new one wearing a seatbelt is socialist.

Are all Ram fans and now Cops as dumb as you in the US??

@Ram Big Horn 1500 - ha ha ha ha.

Wow.

Freedom??

The freedom to NOT use safety devices and end up a drooling drain on society in an extended care facility.

Yes, we have the freedom to be stupid.

Heaven forbid that someone else has to pay for that stupidity.

@Big Al from Oz - he sounds more like one of those bleeding hearts on the left.

He expects the rest of us to pick up the financial tab for him and others to exercise their freedoms.

To be expected really, he probably has no problem with the 2 bailouts that Chrysler received and the fact that post bailout #2 the government gave the company to Italians.

"Those who give up their freedom for security deserve neither."

Am I the only one here that thinks that is the most incoherent statement ever uttered?

Roadwhale: It runs rough in OD. It runs smooth in 1, 2 or 3.

Your transmission should have an electronic management system, although some of the transitional years of Fords and Chevys had one with vacuum controlled 1, 2, and 3 with an electrically controlled OD.

My 88 Chevy had it.

Your truck sounds like the torque-converter lockup is goofy in OD. Or you might have a 3 speed auto with a TQ lockup in high. Some Mopars had that in the late 1980s.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ford_AOD_transmission

This wiki article tells me that your F150 is right on the cusp. Do you have a way of knowing if the tranny was changed out before you bought the truck--you didn't buy it new, did you?

@Lou_BC
I have a sneaking suspicion that our 'many' Fiat/Ram commenters on PUTC are actually from one person.

I don't want to incriminate anyone by putting forward a name, but all I will state is that most of the titles start with HEMI.

I even think zvirus could be the same person.

@Big Al from Oz - styles are too different. It takes a very clever person to be able to separate one's personality from one's blog style.
This site needs aggressive moderation to work without a secure log in with a valid email. Mike Levine made it work because he actually read the blogs and stayed on top of things reasonably well.

TTAC just recently banned 2 guys and that was with a legitimate log in and both guys were warned.

You can't warn someone to behave and subsequently ban them if they can easily change identities and use public IP addresses.

This site needs someone to actually follow the blogs not just regurgitate press releases from car companies.

TTAC is an example of a site that is well run by people who care about vehicles, the blog, and care about good writing.

If they covered truck news more, I wouldn't even bother with this site.

@Lou_BC
I do know that U R A Mad Scientist or whoever it was was banned. Who was the other one?

I do know several wanted me banned. Once when I used the word retarded when describing DiM or Pch101. But I found out they like my input. There are a few who actually read my links.

I'm parvenu (French word, if you haven't realized I do use some Francais), which means newly educated, but rough around the edges and you don't follow protocols. At work I'm kind of the rough cut diamond. I haven't learned the ways of the establishment and with my job it can be fun.

Most of the 'posh' behavior where I work is a façade. Sometime after a few beers, I'm what the bosses term as entertaining, in a good way. Very rustic behavior.

But they us those qualities quite often at work, especially when the $hit hits the fan. I'm expected to step in and make 'things' work.

Because of my age and retirement and my attitude I think I've hit the ceiling at work. I don't mind, I get a good income and I'm now dedicating my time with the younger guys to help them.

I'm only harsh to fools, even at work the guys realize I will not tolerate fools.

@Big Al from Oz - funny. I tend to look at protocols the same way. I found that as more experience, knowledge and skill accrues, one needs procedure, protocol, guidelines etc. less and less. They are great for new people to learn the ropes and not get into trouble. I've found that I tend to be intuitive in my decision making as well as being more of a global "big picture" thinker. I've been through many learning and skill assessments that confirm it.

@all: The tranny In my F-150 is likely the C6, not the E4OD as it lacks the extra stop on the shift indicator (P R N ø 2). And again, it's only when it's under load, such as an uphill grade when you expect it to downshift that it stutters and shakes.

@ RoadWhale™ - the C6 didn't have OD. Most likely the E4OD which is basically a modified C6 with added OD.
The C6 was predominantly a mid-big block transmission.