It’s hard for me to fathom how some go without wearing seatbelts when riding in their vehicles.

On Feb. 2, passenger Francisco Rodriguez, 60, of Merced County was killed in a crash on La Grange Dam Road when he was ejected. His 58-year-old driver was also ejected but lived, sustaining major injuries.

Perhaps the men had been drinking otherwise I have no explanation as to why somebody in 2024 doesn’t wear seatbelts. A death wish?

Likewise, the two young men who were killed during the Ceres Police chase of Jan. 18 when they crashed at Geer and Keyes roads were ejected because they weren’t wearing seatbelts.

Consider that the two men in the horrific crash at Service and Pioneer roads – also during a Ceres Police chase – both survived and both were wearing a seatbelt.

It’s been suggested that the simple act of buckling a seat belt can prevent almost half of all vehicular deaths. And studies also tell us that about 80 percent of those who are ejected during a car crash due from the major injuries they receive. Your chances of being ejected with a seat belt on are about one percent. 

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Each year over 100 people on bicycles are killed in California and over 10,000 injured.

Stanislaus and San Joaquin counties are among the top 20 most dangerous counties for cyclists across the country.

It’s simple. There are a lot of careless people riding who are either ignorant of the law or just do whatever they please.

Let me give you an example. I came to a stop sign and wanted to make a right turn. I first looked left and then right before moving. That’s when I saw this young woman riding her bicycle against traffic coming toward me. Drivers have to expect the unexpected. We made eye contact but I shook my head in disbelief.

When I was a kid in the late 1960s, our school was treated to a bike rodeo at what was then the Montgomery Ward parking lot on McHenry Avenue in Modesto. Modesto Police conducted the event to teach us road safety. We were taught to look both ways before crossing the street. The officers used those child-sized peddle cars and set up lines for roads. When it came time for me to “cross” I apparently didn’t look one way and walked in front of a car. The officer slammed his hand into the peddle car and exclaimed, “Bam, you’re dead.” I never forgot that moment of humiliation. It was a lesson well learned.

Of course, we pretty much stopped training kids safety practices and don’t even teach them how to drive like responsible individuals.

I routinely see grown men – okay they have all the appearance of being “tweakers” – peddling down the street against traffic instead of with traffic. This practice alone lends to deaths every year. But when your mind is burned out on drugs, or you are high on them at the moment, safety is not at the forefront of your thought process.

I also see grown men riding bicycles in the dark with no lights. I must have seen this a handful of times on Santa Fe Avenue in Empire. But typically these types are out doing things at night they don’t want to be seen doing.

This column is the opinion of Jeff Benziger, and does not necessarily represent the opinion of The Ceres Courier or 209 Multimedia Corporation.  How do you feel about this? Let Jeff know at jeffb@cerescourier.com