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Woman’s Strict Seat Belt “Rule” Makes Friends Miss Lunch Date, Years Later They Still Hate On Her
Some friendships are so special you both swear you knew each other in a previous life. Others? Not so much. You see, true besties are hard to find. Choosing who to hold onto comes down to you, them, and, above all, a mutual respect for each other.
One woman turned to an online community to vent after her friends shrugged off a boundary that was non-negotiable for her. After sticking to her guns, their fun road-trip took a hard turn south. Now she’s wondering if putting safety first makes her a jerk.
More info: Reddit
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The older you get, the more you realize friendships come and go, but how they end can still be truly surprising
Image credits: Freepik / Freepik (not the actual photo)
One group of friends planned a fun day out in the city, then piled into the driver’s minivan and started their hour-long mini road-trip
Image credits: Freepik / Freepik (not the actual photo)
Barely twenty minutes into their adventure, though, the driver noticed nobody else was wearing their seat belts, so she pulled over and told everyone to buckle up
Image credits: ArthurHidden / Freepik (not the actual photo)
All five friends laughed her off, but she refused to budge, which led to half an hour of one-way cursing before everyone complied, derailing their special day
Image credits: Freepik / Freepik (not the actual photo)
The friends all called the woman a jerk for ruining everything, so she turned to an online community to ask if her request had been that unreasonable
Image credits: Hamilfire
Backed up by what netizens had to say, the woman felt vindicated, and promised to be pickier with who she calls friends in future
The original poster (OP) and her friends planned a dreamy day trip to the city: fancy lunch, zoo visit, and road-trip vibes, all packed into her mom’s eight-seater minivan. Everyone agreed to split gas, embrace adventure, and not argue over the playlist. Twenty minutes in, though, the fun hit a speed bump nobody expected.
OP noticed her front-seat friend wasn’t wearing a seat belt, which instantly set off alarms. A recent tragedy involving another friend made her especially firm about safety. When her polite requests were laughed off, OP did the unthinkable: pulled onto the interstate shoulder and put the road-trip in park while her friends just rolled their eyes.
OP’s stance didn’t soften. She calmly announced she wouldn’t move an inch until everyone buckled up, then just scrolled Instagram like a queen. What started as awkward laughter descended into thirty minutes of yelling, insults, and peer pressure, all before begrudging compliance that derailed the whole day, lunch first.
OP’s friends iced her out for the rest of the day and blamed her for “ruining everything.” Years later, one still won’t speak to her, but after she told her tale online, netizens crowned her not guilty, validating years of ignored boundaries. Her story ends with tears, clarity, and a realization: some “friends” just aren’t meant to be part of your journey.
OP’s so-called friends can’t lay all the blame at her feet – they could’ve been back on the road in a literal click. Is being true to your boundaries worth testing a friendship, though? We went looking for answers.
Image credits: Freepik / Freepik (not the actual photo)
The experts over at Mental Health Wellness say friendships are meant to be built on trust and respect, but when you start to set healthy boundaries, some friends may see them as betrayal. This can leave you conflicted, not sure if you’re doing the right thing by protecting your time, space, energy, and well-being.
Here’s the deal: boundaries are vital for healthy relationships, but not everyone respects them. Some people see them as personal rejections. They might even get manipulative to make you feel guilty for sticking to your principles. That’s just nasty, right?
The CDC says young adults (18-24) are less likely to wear seat belts than other age groups. Rear-seat passengers are also less likely than front-seat passengers to wear a seat belt, making them more likely to injure themselves. Or worse. OP had a point, then.
According to The Zebra, in 2017 alone, seat belts saved nearly 15,000 lives in the US and buckling up can prevent nearly 50% of all automobile tragedies. Numbers worth keeping in mind next time you get behind the wheel.
OP’s refusal to buckle until her passengers buckled up may have been a bold move but safety, not friendship, comes first. If her “friends” can’t wrap their heads around that, it’s on them.
What’s your take? Did OP take things too far, or were her friends mostly to blame for a day gone down the gutter? Drop your thoughts in the comments!
In the comments, readers seemed to agree that the woman was not the jerk in the situation, and slammed her friends for being stubborn
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What do you think ?
Spellflinger 2 days ago
Aside from the obvious safety issue where I live the unbuckled passenger is fined AND the driver as well.
Ace 2 days ago
Quite so, but how old is the story? If that law were in place then the driver has every right, indeed duty, to insist, and any passenger would have to be a complete AH to refuse to comply, knowing that they're making somebody else bear the consequences of their own pigheadedness. Then again, they've got to be pretty stupid in the first place, regardless of the law, to refuse to wear them.
Load More Replies...
Janelle Collard 2 days ago
OP's *ex-friends* made them 30 minutes late for their lunch reservation cuz they refused to spend THREE SECONDS clicking their seatbelts on. OP was *never* the AH + I hope she got new friends.
Petra Peitsch 2 days ago
Antivax rednecks, we should have been never born, just for the sole reason to not endanger and/or k**l others. That's what I think, even it's a 4 years old post.
brittany 1 day ago (edited)
it's the literal law. and you can get ticketed for every single person not wearing one (where i live at least). i was in an accident a little over a week ago. i was t boned. overheard an ems worker say to another one that when he pulled up, the car was so bad he didnt expect me to be alive and my seat belt likely saved my life. i have 3 kids at home, i cant risk being thrown from my car and dying because i couldn't buckle up. anyone who thinks its no big deal to not buckle up is playing with fire and are going to get burned eventually
Yvonne Dauwalder Balsiger 15 hours ago
I bet the same people are now saying "why didn't she just cOmPLy?"
Robyn Hill 23 hours ago
They could have spent 10 seconds acting like adults, but they chose to spend 30 minutes acting like toddlers, and OP is somehow at fault? She definitely needs better friends.
JayWantsACat 23 hours ago
Some of these people being anti-mask explains a lot. "MUH FREEUMDS DURRRR"
Zig Zag Wanderer 1 day ago
30 fůcking minutes to argue? Any unbelted passengers become lethal projectiles in an accident. It's about safety for EVERYONE!
Phae Thompson 5 hours ago
I live in the South (Georgia) and down here, if you get pulled over for no seat belt for either driver or passenger, you WILL get a ticket ($15/adult, $25/ minor).
PandaPadi 11 hours ago
My partner insists that every passenger wear seatbelts. I was not used to that before meeting him unless Im sitting in the front passenger seat. Now it has become a must. I've seen so many accidents where people from the back seats are being projected because they are not wearing seatbelts. A little extra step can go a long way.
Crystalwitch60 12 hours ago
In uk it is the drivers responsibility to ensure every passenger is wearing a seat belt ! If we get pulled over for no seat belts on passengers, it’s points on the drivers licence and or a fine , normally three points for each person , that’s how serious they are about this , I’m sure USA is the same ? Op NTA the mates 100% are , n I’d have made them get out n bloody walk end off ! They caused the issue not op ,
Julie S 6 hours ago
It is the drivers responsibility to make sure children under the age of 14 wear a seatbelt, children over 14 and adults it is their responsibility to make sure they wear a seatbelt not the driver.
Load More Replies...
Helga Zwemmer 12 hours ago
€190 is the fine per adult passenger for not buckling up (minors more expensive) and the driver is responsible where I am (the Netherlands, Europe). You bet I’ll have you buckled up or you can go walkies
Ellinor she/they/elle 2 days ago
You know, sometimes people do illegal things. It's illegal to be on the phone while driving yet I see my own French mother do it sometimes in France (and yes I always tell her to stop but she doesn't listen)
Load More Replies... Spellflinger 2 days ago
Aside from the obvious safety issue where I live the unbuckled passenger is fined AND the driver as well.
Ace 2 days ago
Quite so, but how old is the story? If that law were in place then the driver has every right, indeed duty, to insist, and any passenger would have to be a complete AH to refuse to comply, knowing that they're making somebody else bear the consequences of their own pigheadedness. Then again, they've got to be pretty stupid in the first place, regardless of the law, to refuse to wear them.
Load More Replies... Janelle Collard 2 days ago
OP's *ex-friends* made them 30 minutes late for their lunch reservation cuz they refused to spend THREE SECONDS clicking their seatbelts on. OP was *never* the AH + I hope she got new friends.
Petra Peitsch 2 days ago
Antivax rednecks, we should have been never born, just for the sole reason to not endanger and/or k**l others. That's what I think, even it's a 4 years old post.
brittany 1 day ago (edited)
it's the literal law. and you can get ticketed for every single person not wearing one (where i live at least). i was in an accident a little over a week ago. i was t boned. overheard an ems worker say to another one that when he pulled up, the car was so bad he didnt expect me to be alive and my seat belt likely saved my life. i have 3 kids at home, i cant risk being thrown from my car and dying because i couldn't buckle up. anyone who thinks its no big deal to not buckle up is playing with fire and are going to get burned eventually
Yvonne Dauwalder Balsiger 15 hours ago
I bet the same people are now saying "why didn't she just cOmPLy?"
Robyn Hill 23 hours ago
They could have spent 10 seconds acting like adults, but they chose to spend 30 minutes acting like toddlers, and OP is somehow at fault? She definitely needs better friends.
JayWantsACat 23 hours ago
Some of these people being anti-mask explains a lot. "MUH FREEUMDS DURRRR"
Zig Zag Wanderer 1 day ago
30 fůcking minutes to argue? Any unbelted passengers become lethal projectiles in an accident. It's about safety for EVERYONE!
Phae Thompson 5 hours ago
I live in the South (Georgia) and down here, if you get pulled over for no seat belt for either driver or passenger, you WILL get a ticket ($15/adult, $25/ minor).
PandaPadi 11 hours ago
My partner insists that every passenger wear seatbelts. I was not used to that before meeting him unless Im sitting in the front passenger seat. Now it has become a must. I've seen so many accidents where people from the back seats are being projected because they are not wearing seatbelts. A little extra step can go a long way.
Crystalwitch60 12 hours ago
In uk it is the drivers responsibility to ensure every passenger is wearing a seat belt ! If we get pulled over for no seat belts on passengers, it’s points on the drivers licence and or a fine , normally three points for each person , that’s how serious they are about this , I’m sure USA is the same ? Op NTA the mates 100% are , n I’d have made them get out n bloody walk end off ! They caused the issue not op ,
Julie S 6 hours ago
It is the drivers responsibility to make sure children under the age of 14 wear a seatbelt, children over 14 and adults it is their responsibility to make sure they wear a seatbelt not the driver.
Load More Replies... Helga Zwemmer 12 hours ago
€190 is the fine per adult passenger for not buckling up (minors more expensive) and the driver is responsible where I am (the Netherlands, Europe). You bet I’ll have you buckled up or you can go walkies
Ellinor she/they/elle 2 days ago
You know, sometimes people do illegal things. It's illegal to be on the phone while driving yet I see my own French mother do it sometimes in France (and yes I always tell her to stop but she doesn't listen)
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