taxi driver not wearing his seatbelt? Not a good example to the rest of us.

I just have to comment on the fact that they weren't wearing seatbelts. WTH? Icy conditions all over town and all 3 thought they would be safe without seatbelts. I sure hope they recover from their injuries and re-think the whole drive or travel in a vehicle without seatbelt thing. I personally would be dead if I had not worn a seatbelt in the accident I had. T-boned and rearended with my driver's door coming right off. The only thing that kept me in that vehicle was my seatbelt. It can happen to anyone!

Taxi drivers are exempt from wearing seatbelts up to 70 KpH for their own safety.

Doesnt look very "head on" in the picture. Im guessing the Blazer was sliding sideways at the time he was hit...

I drive this road back and forth as much as 10/12 times a day and I recall thinking this morning that the road was worse than normal. I was traveling to work on it about an hour before this accident and was down to 30 or 40 kph because it was so bad. I have mentioned this roads condition to my wife and co workers on several occasions in the last month about how bad it was and it would be just a matter of time. Heavy traffic starts around 6 am with people commuting to work and I have yet to see a scrap of sand on that section of road before it gets busy. The city sand truck arrived well after the accident this morning. Should have been done a lot earlier as wearing seat belts would have lowered the chance of serious injuries but would not have stopped the accident. Hope everyone pulls through

I also drive this road 6 times a day. I have a SUV, 4 wheel drive with 4 studded tires all around. I was terrified travelling this road this morning. It was a sheet of ice and this wasn't the only time this year. This accident could have been prevented. That they weren't wearing seat belts added to their injuries, and that's very sad. I hope they will be allright. These roads in the BCR site are a nightmare. They are beaten to death day after day by logging, chip, and flatbed trucks. Penn road to Carrier Lumber is nothing but pot hole after pot hole. You just bounce around Pacific Street, Penn, Boundary trying to get out of the paths of the big trucks. It was only a matter of time that there was a bad accident. My husband also works out here and pre-warned me of the danger this morning. There were also 2 moose in Rustad's Parking Lot this morning that we all had to watch out for along with the crappy roads. The City of Prince George was really asleep at the NO WHEEL on this one today.

that exemption for Taxi Drivers is not very safe when it comes to accidents. Maby ICBC will act on this exemption. Wonder what work safe will do with this case.

Hope everyone will be okay, but the fact still remains that you have to drive for the existing conditions, not for what you think they should be. The past few days have seen freeze/thaw cycles, along with rain, so it can be tough to stay on top of keeping every inch of road clear and dry.

How does not wearing a seatbelt make taxi drivers safer?

I guarantee that at some point that morning on the way out to the BCR site that taxi was going more than 70. Most traffic on the highway out to the BCR is 80-90km/h. So unless he undid his belt when he slowed down it should have been on.

billposer, if a taxi driver is attacked inside of their cab, they need to be able to exit quickly without fighting with a seat belt. Also, if somebody is sitting behind you and you have a seat belt on, it is very easy for them to choke you out with it.

This is absolute crap! There should be severe penalties for these people. We all pay because these idiots couldn't take 2 seconds to put on their seat belts. Now we and they will have to pay huge medical expenses. I don't care what the road was like. If they had taken 2 seconds to put on their damn seat belts they would probably be fine and having a beer right now.

Some people don't get it. Maybe some of you should go out and drive a cab, I did years ago, then you will know why they don't wear seat belts. And until you do, you should keep your comments to yourself, because your to stupid to realize the danger of that belt

Well for starters, driving a cab is too hard for me to do. I would not do it. It is a tough job but someone has to do it. However, I must be really stupid because I am not going to keep my comments to myself. I notice you don't mention the "dangers." If the "belt" is an issue why don't you invent a cab friendly belt. If you don't wear your belt lose your right to drive. I want an affordable medical system, not one plugged by idiots, some of which are there because they didn't put on a "dangerous" belt.

Exemption — taxi driver
32.03 A taxi driver is exempt from the provisions of section 220 (6) of the Act while transporting a passenger for hire in a taxi.

[en. B.C. Reg. 426/77.]

Oh good grief. I have only seen a couple of stories of taxi drivers attacked across the entire country in the past few years. Drive by PG autowreckers and look at the stacks of smashed yellow cars there then tell me which is a higher percentage play. Put your seatbelt on and don't think that because you drive all the time you are automatically a "professional" driver.

interceptor, you should get out more often. You just don't pay attention when a cab driver gets assaulted, or murdered. You don't care. But by God, if a cab driver is involved in a car accident, you climb all over him. Get a damn life!!

Pathetic, to say the least

ummm - look at the car in the picture dude. If he had his seatbelt on he would be at home watching tv right now, not fighting for his life in hospital. Show me some stats on all of these murdered taxi drivers and then we will talk.
ps - I am glad you are on Alberta streets now...

ps - I sincerely hope all heal up, I do not think the poor cab driver was at fault, I just think not wearing a seatbelt is irresponsible.

Interesting. None of the victims were wearing seatbelts but some morons are fixated on the cab driver. I'm surprised you geniuses haven't reconstructed the accident scene and concluded who was to blame from the pictures posted here.

Well, I'm no expert in diagnosing crashes, but I do know a Guy who was seriously injured when his compact pickup was t-boned in the driver's door, and his injuries were compounded "because" of his seatbelt.

The other vehicle shoved his door inward a good foot, and the seatbelt he was wearing kept him right where he was in the seat, resulting in a shattered pelvis.

Now don't get me wrong here -- I'm not advocating everyone start not wearing seatbelts because they "could" get t-boned!! I don't go anywhere without wearing mine at all times, and everyone else in my vehicle does so as well, period, and a specil effort is always made to be sure the kids that are in my vehicles are not only buckled up, but also know WHY they are buckled up !!

I firmly believe seat belts save far, far more lives than they "take", and applaud their use at all times, and I especially like the idea of those new inflatable belts that Ford is coming out with, for rear seat passengers, that should help protect children in those seats even better than the standard ones we've been using for years.

Not sure if they'll become standard in all models, but I do know the new Explorer will offer them, for one.

I wouldn't think that attacks on cab drivers would be frequent enough to make it wise not to wear a seatbelt, and if they were, I would think it would be smarter to use barriers between the passengers and the driver the way they do in many cities where such attacks are common.

I always wear a seat belt. Firstly due to a self preservation wish, and secondly it's the law that could empty my pocket of $167 bucks.