Seat Belt Safety: Part Two

There are many excuses we all hear from people for not wearing their seat belts. Including:

• “Its’ uncomfortable”
• “Seat belts wrinkle clothes”
• “I’m a good driver”
• “The trip is short”
• “I forgot to put mine on”
• “I don’t need one because my airbag would go off”

Anyone using these excuses for not using a seat belt must not know the true importance of buckling in. “I don’t need one because my airbag would go off” is an interesting excuse and here is why.

While air bags spread out the impact of an accident and protect your head from colliding with the steering wheel, they are much more useful in unison with a seat belt.

According to the New York Times, “[T]he Department of Transportation cautioned that air bags worked this well only when occupants were also wearing a properly buckled seat belt over both lap and shoulder; other studies have found that without a belt, air bags are of slight benefit.”

In fact, in some cases airbags can cause more damage rather than providing protection. They are designed to deploy in less than 1/20th of second. If the driver or passenger is too close to the airbag when it deploys, injury is possible. Wearing a seat belt insures that the driver/passenger is far enough from the airbag to avoid this.
The national Highway Traffic Safety Administration stated that the risk of serious head injury is reduced by 81 percent when an air bag is used in combination with a lap and seat belt.

Both the seat belt and the air bag are incredible inventions that have saved thousands of lives. The use of one in conjunction with the other could be pivotal to your health if ever involved in a serious accident.

Your life is worth the two seconds it takes to buckle your seat belt. Click it!