In 2016, seat belts saved almost 15,000 lives. Despite this fact, many people still refuse to buckle up. This is a dangerous decision that puts their lives and the lives of others at risk.
It takes just a few seconds to fasten your seatbelt. The benefits of this simple action are undeniable.
Reduces the risk of injuries
Wearing your seat belt reduces the risk of injuries in an accident by spreading impact forces across more vital bony parts (shoulders and rib cage) of your body and keeping you secure inside your vehicle—something that ejecting is known to do; people thrown from vehicles often die or sustain serious injuries as a result.
Lap and shoulder belts are designed to be comfortable and should never put unnecessary strain on either your abdomen or stomach. Pregnant women should place the lap belt over their hips rather than around their belly, while shoulder belts should always go across the chest rather than around the neck. Airbags cannot serve as an adequate replacement for wearing seat belts at all times! It is also essential to note that airbags cannot replace wearing your seat belt.
Reduces the risk of death
Many survivors of serious car crashes only survive because they wear seat belts; otherwise, ejection from the vehicle would likely result in fatalities.
Seat belts also play a critical role in decreasing the risk of death from head and spinal cord impacts, helping reduce fatalities from these impacts. Without protection, your head could hit whatever surface was directly in front of it, potentially including the chair backrest, steering wheel, or windows, depending on what kind of crash took place.
When your head strikes something hard, the impact may cause serious brain and spinal cord injuries that require immediate medical treatment. Seat belts help distribute any sudden deceleration forces evenly over crucial body areas like your chest and pelvis to protect you during sudden stops or abrupt acceleration.
Keeps you in your seat
Although cars have become more advanced with regards to safety technologies, most devices only work properly if you wear your seat belt during each journey. Failing to buckle up can result in you being ejected from your car in an accident and often leads to severe injury or, worse, even fatality.
Wearing a seatbelt is the surest way to protect against head, neck, and body injuries in an accident. Seat belts are specifically designed to secure vital parts of the body like the hips and shoulders, keeping you safer as a result of accidents.
No matter the inconvenience it might present, wearing your seat belt is never worth taking the chance of not doing so. Buckling up may feel cumbersome, but doing it could save lives! Buckle up or risk serious consequences for yourself and those around you!
Spreads the Force of a Crash
If your car crashes, wearing a seat belt helps disperse the force of an impact over a wider body area and lowers your risk of serious head and neck injuries. Furthermore, it keeps you away from harmful objects like dashboards and steering wheels, which could otherwise lead to injuries during an incident.
The newer 3-point seatbelts distribute the impact over your torso and pelvis, the most significant parts of the body. In contrast, the old 2-point belt localized this force over one part of the body.
Seat belts prevent occupants from being ejected from vehicles, which is associated with a high fatality rate; fixing a seatbelt that won’t retract is essential. People thrown from cars are twice as likely to die in nonrollover crashes and four times more likely to die in rollover accidents.
Keeps You in the Car
Seat belts are the single most effective way of protecting front-seat passengers against serious injury or death in cars’ front seats, regardless of where you’re headed. Wear one every time you get in your vehicle.
Unbuckle your seat belt when driving in order to reduce the chance of an accident and being thrown from your vehicle—an almost sure-fire way to be killed or severely injured in an impact situation. Even while wearing one, there remains the potential risk that severe injury might still result from such impacts.
Seatbelts are a crucial safety innovation that can save lives. Even so, many people need to buckle up regularly. Those who regularly refuse to wear seat belts may face fines or lose their driver’s license. Getting caught without a seatbelt will also increase the cost of your car insurance.
Keeps You from Being Thrown Out
People not wearing seat belts can be thrown out of their vehicles in a crash. This is almost always fatal. Those wearing seat belts are 30 times less likely to be ejected, even when involved in a severe accident.
Some people argue that making seat belts mandatory is oppressive and interferes with their freedoms. Still, these concerns are negligible compared to the many lives that could be saved if everyone wore their seatbelt.
Your seatbelt must fit appropriately so it sits snugly across your chest and shoulders (over the strong hip bones). It should never sit below your arm or behind your neck. It’s also important to check your seat belt regularly to ensure it is not worn out or damaged.
Keeps You Safe in the Water
Many still do not buckle up despite countless campaigns, seat belt ads, and pleas from parents and car manufacturers. This is because many people do not realize the importance of buckling up and what it can do to keep them safe in a crash.
While car manufacturers are introducing cutting-edge safety features like airbags into their vehicles, these technologies can be rendered useless or even fatal if you aren’t wearing your seatbelt. 50% of wrongful-death car accident victims died because they were unbuckled.
When a seatbelt is worn correctly, it goes across the chest (not on the neck) and over the strong hip bones. Pregnant women should always wear low seatbelts so the lap belt does not dig into the stomach.
