Seat belts/straps can be a real safety hazard if they are not worn. There was an accident I believe a few years ago when someone was hover taxiing just a short distance across the airfield, and the seat belt buckle got in the way of the cyclic, preventing it from moving fully aft. Result - completely unnecessary accident, simply because someone was too lazy to do the strap up. How could anyone even conceive of starting the rotors without being strapped in is beyond me. Ever heard of ground resonance?