Seat Belt Safety

Mike Gormley
Imagine your life flashing before your eyes as you brace for impact. You just got in a car crash, and with all variables set aside there is thin strip of plastic that could be the difference between survival, injury, or death.
Bill King of Stonehill College was in a treacherous car crash and believes that his seatbelt saved his life.
“I was strapped in and that is what probably saved my life and the lives of my friends in the car with me,” King said.
King was driving his jeep when it skidded out of control landing on its roof.
“I was driving on the highway, it was pouring rain, and when I went around the bend of a highway, my jeep hydroplaned, and I lost control of the car,” said King.
When the car flipped, King kicked out the side window, and crawled out of the vehicle. “If I was not wearing a seatbelt, I would have surely been tossed out of the windshield, or crushed by the roof.”
Seatbelts reduce the risk of fatality and severe injury. “When used properly, lap/shoulder belts reduce the risk of fatal injury to front-seat passengers car occupants by 45% and the risk of moderate to severe injury by 50%,” according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
Failure to wear a seatbelt is a failure to be safe. With so much publicity and real life accounts it is hard to argue against a practical safety precaution.
“The vast majority of the public, (86%) strongly agreed that if they were in a motor vehicle accident they would want to have their seatbelt on,” according to the National Highway and Safety Administration.
An increase in seatbelt use has occurred as a result of recent ad campaigns throughout the country. Deputy Chief Allen Krajcik of the Easton Police department said the campaign is increasing awareness.
“I think publicity is effective, people hear the ads, and if they aren’t aware are now informed,” said Krajcik.
In Massachusetts failure to wear a seat belt is a secondary violation. This means an additional $25 ticket will be added to a moving violation.
“The smart thing to do is to wear your seatbelt belt because it can save your life, not to avoid the ticket,” said Krajcik.
Krajcik said that he has seen firsthand that seatbelts save lives. “90-95 percent of people who are killed in an accident were not wearing their seatbelt. In 26 years, I have only seen one fatal accident where the individual was wearing a seatbelt.”
With all the information and the statistics, some people still choose to not wear their seatbelts.
Chris Darrah a Northeastern University student is one of those people.
“I don’t have a car, but when I drive my parent’s car, I don’t always wear my seatbelt,” Darrah said. Darrah distinguishes the use of the seatbelt as situational.
“If I am driving short distances around my town, I probably won’t bother, but on the highway I would buckle up,” Darrah said.
Seatbelt use nationally in 2007 was 82 percent as measured by the National Highway Traffic and Safety Administration, and the National Occupant Protection Use Survey.
In Massachusetts, seatbelt use was considerably lower in 2007 at 68.7 percent. This means that close to one third of drivers in Massachusetts are not driving safe. Mr. King said he knows firsthand the seatbelt saves lives.
In the moments before King’s accident his friends made sure they buckled up. “Me and my friends were listening to the radio, and a public service announcement came on about seatbelts. My buddy jokingly put his seatbelt on making fun of the ad, but like a minute later I flipped my jeep,” King said. Perhaps it was an omen, or perhaps it was dumb luck, but King and his friends are alive and well today because of their seatbelt use.