Why the ambulance crew doesn't wear their seatbelts

This is another one on risk:

It used to strike me as strange that EMTs and paramedics typically don't wear their seatbelts. I don't mean in the back of the ambulance during a call. It's hard to be belted in and still treat the patient (though there are some harness systems designed to meet this purpose). But up front, or in the back when there's no patient (say, on the way to a call) - no seatbelt. I have also seen a lot of orthopedic surgeons who ride motorcycles, and almost every respiratory tech that I've ever met smokes.

My theory on this? I think that these people are brought face to face with human misery, and with the frailty of the human body, much more often than is healthy. Eventually, one of two things happens. Either they recognize those human frailties in themselves, and either change careers or go mad with it; or they decide that they're immune. "I won't get COPD or lung cancer from cigarettes, and I'll prove it by smoking them and not getting sick." "My body is not fragile, and I'll prove it by riding a motorcycle, not wearing my seatbelt, etc." "I'm too good a driver to get in an accident," etc, etc. "I am imune."

Which brings me to another point. If I'm putting on my seatbelt when I get into your car, don't be offended. It isn't necessarily your driving that I'm worried about. It's every other driver on the road.

Or be offended, if you want. Because maybe it is your driving that I'm worried about.

[Risk link added 28 Nov 2007]