Seatbelts Save!

“Buckle up!” I heard these words whenever I got in the car with my mom. “I won’t go until you put your seatbelt on.” My mom always ensured I wore a seatbelt when I was in the car. If I was going to go somewhere with my friends, she would remind me that I needed to wear my seatbelt, even if no one else in the car was wearing it.

For my mom, the importance of wearing a seatbelt was very personal. When she was thirteen, she lost her dad. Her brother had been in basic training for the army at the time, but he came home for the funeral. After the funeral, he was driving back to Colorado, which is where he was doing basic training. Unfortunately, my uncle was tired while he was driving, but didn’t choose to pull over. Due to neglecting his exhaustion, he fell asleep at the wheel. He drove across the other side of the street and hit a pole on the other side of the road. If my uncle were to have not had his seatbelt on, he would have passed away.

A seatbelt saved my mom from losing her dad and her brother within a week. My grandma would have lost her husband, and then all of a sudden, lost her only son if he had chosen not to wear a seatbelt that night. My grandma would have been left with three young girls to take care of while dealing with the loss of someone she couldn’t save, her husband, and her son, who could have avoided it. Because my uncle chose to buckle his seatbelt, my family was spared from adding a tragedy to a situation that was already tragic.

This story has always motivated me to wear my seatbelt when I am in the car. Because my uncle’s life was saved by wearing a seatbelt, I know the power of them. However, not everyone has a story that is so close to home. I was always amazed when I got in the car with my friends and they wouldn’t put their seatbelt on. When I found that to be the case, I would share the story of my uncle. Even as a young kid, I was doing my best to share my knowledge about wearing a seatbelt and the impact it can have in the event of a car accident.

According to the Network of Employers of Traffic Safety, it takes less than two seconds to buckle up. Lives could be saved if people took two seconds to put a seatbelt on. Even though wearing a seatbelt is super easy, not everyone buckles up when they get in the car, which leads to very unfortunate consequences. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration reported that seatbelt use in 2022 was 91.6%. Luckily, this was an increase from 2021, when the seatbelt was 90.4%. While the increase in seatbelt use is a good thing, it is not enough. It will not be enough until seatbelt usage hits 100%.

The NHTSA reported that in 2021 alone, about 13,162 unrestrained passengers died due to a car accident. This makes up 50% of passenger deaths. It is estimated that 2,549 people would have survived if they had taken the two seconds that it takes to buckle.

While seatbelts don’t guarantee survival in a car accident, they do make a difference. Seatbelts, when worn properly, can protect you from being ejected from a car in an accident. If you are restrained by the seatbelt, you have a much greater chance of survival than if you were to be thrown out the windshield. While I can do my best to drive safely, I can’t control every driver that I share the road with. To combat this issue and better my chances of arriving at my destination safely, I wear my seatbelt.

Many drivers have a misconception that because cars have airbags, they don’t need to wear their seatbelts. That simply is not the case. Airbags were not designed to work on their own. They were designed to be used in conjunction with seatbelts. Drivers who rely on an airbag in the event of a crash are ruining their chance of being able to live to tell their story.

Wearing a seatbelt is super easy. It is not uncomfortable, as long as it is worn properly. It does not take long to put a seatbelt on. By making buckling up a habit that you don’t even have to think about, the fatalities that occur on our roads could be greatly reduced.