Note: This may contain sensitive information. You could say, I am blunt and to the point.
A lot of people don't put on their seat belt when they get into the car even though they know they should. This is taking an unnecessary risk with your life. The Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) says millions of people choose to ignore their seat belt. I'm going to say that again millions of people ignore their seat belt.
"In 2015 more than half of the teens and adults who died in a car crash were unrestrained at the time of the crash! This is staggering, but what is worse it that more than 2.5 million people were treated for a car accident in the emergency room that same year. These deaths, injuries, and accidents cost $48 billion dollars in medical and work costs in 2010. The CDC also found that in states where the seat belt restrictions are enforced more heavily, people are more likely to use the seat belt than in those states which have little to no seat belt enforcement. Seat belts can and do cut your injuries and risk of death in half." (The CDC)
Another reputable organization, The National Safety Council says that every day about 100 people die in crashes and more than 1,000 suffer from life altering injury. What bothers me most about all of this information is that it is completely preventable. Not every single accident that ends in death or injury would if the people involved made smart choices to use the seat belt.
So, how do you keep yourself and your family safe?
1) Don't drive if there are people in the car not wearing their seat belt!
2) Use your own seat belt on every trip no matter how short or small to set a good example for children and other family members.
3) Support the laws and restrictions in your state to help others make the choice to wear their seatbelts too.
4) Slow down. Everyone in today's society is in such a rush to go here or do this or be there or do that. It is frankly ridiculous. If everyone slowed down and paid attention the roads would be a bit safer overall.
5) Stop using your phone while driving. One phone call or glance to a text can be the moment between life and death, literally.
6) Do not drive while on medications that impair your abilities, drunk, or otherwise under the influence of anything that does not place you in your normal and right frame of mind.
You got this far and you may be wondering what inspired this article. The truth is a horrible car accident with my family all in the car, where had some members not been buckled they would be dead. This is the stark truth and harsh reality of our world. People have enough distractions and things to worry about when driving, being safe in the car and wearing a seat belt shouldn't be an issue. It should and can be second nature. Something that we all do without even thinking about it.
The bottom line is: Buckle Up!
