Any astute observer will agree that if we were to conduct a survey about the usage of car seat belts in our country, the percentage would be no more than 5~10% of all the vehicle users.
In order to fully appreciate the most important passive safety feature in our vehicles we have to understand the following:
- What are seat belts.
- How they work to protect us in an accident.
After the invention of cars, as the number of cars increased so did the number of accidents. With the advancement of technology, cars started becoming faster. As a result, the aftermath of accidents started becoming more & more severe.
The costly lessons learnt from these accidents made everyone think about ways to avoid them and if unavoidable, improve technology to survive them. It is because of this thinking process that the traffic rules were formulated to avoid accidents. Car engineers on the other hand had to develop some method of reducing injuries in the accident which led to the invention of car seat belts in 1956 by a Swedish engineer who worked for Volvo.
Through years of data collection in real life & simulated accidents, it has been concluded that the safest place during a car accident is inside the car. Seat belts ensure this by keeping the occupants in their seats. It is not uncommon to see people hurtled into the steering wheel or windshield or even worse, thrown out of their cars during an accident. Same goes true about the rear seat occupants, they become dangerous projectiles for the front seat occupants, if unbelted.
People use various excuses for not wearing seat belts, here are the most commonly cited:
Excuse # 1 :
I will stop myself from being thrown into the steering or windshield by using my arms.
Fact:
It takes an equivalent strength of lifting 2500 lbs of weight in a moderate speed (60 km/hr) accident to stop yourself with your arms. No human being can do that.
Excuse # 2:
I don’t have the time to buckle myself.
Fact:
It takes less than 5 seconds to buckle up, is it too long a time to save yourself from potential injury.
Excuse # 3:
I will wear the belt on highway as the speed is low in city driving.
Fact:
If you never exceed 5 km/hr and can guarantee that there will be no other car coming your way, then you don’t have to wear a belt ! Otherwise, collision with a car traveling even at 10 km/hr will cause serious injuries without a belt and make it immaterial if you were stationary or moving slowly.
Excuse # 4:
Seat belts wrinkle my clothes.
Fact:
Is your life more important or some wrinkles on the clothes. Accidents don’t take a break even if you are going to a party or a special function, rather the chances of you making a mistake increase in these situations.
Excuse # 5:
I might become trapped in my car after an accident.
Fact:
This is the silliest of all excuses. Seat belt buckles are designed to open quickly & there is no documented evidence that anyone has ever been unwillingly stranded inside a car because of a seat belt.
Excuse # 6:
I am a careful driver. Accidents will not happen to me.
Fact:
You might be a careful driver, but what about the thousands driving around you. This is a typical response “this will not happen to me”.
Just wearing a seat belt is not enough. It has to be worn properly. An improperly worn seat belt will not offer the fullest protection and may increase the chances of injury. So remember to follow these guidelines:
- A seat belt has two parts, one is called the “lap belt” (which goes around your lap/waist) and the other “shoulder belt”. When wearing the seat belt, it is important that the lap belt is worn as low as possible so that it almost touches your thighs and crosses over the pelvic bones (which are just above the thighs and below the belly).
- Seat belts are designed for one person only. So don’t wear one seat belt around two persons, even if the second person is a child.
- Pregnant women should also wear the seat belts. They must be especially careful about the lap belt and wear it under the bulge of the belly, as mentioned above in #1.
All car owner’s manuals contain detailed information about seat belts. Follow those guidelines if you have any confusion as they contain illustration also.
One real life example of whether seat belts can save lives or not is the tragic death of princess Diana. As everyone will recall, there were four occupants in the car which was a Mercedes Benz S-class, one of the safest cars in the world. There was only one survivor in the accident, the only one who was wearing the seat belt. One of the occupants was thrown out of the car, resulting in fatal injuries.
The saddest part is that most people learn it the hard way, after having been in an accident or witnessing someone else go through the agony. You will hear people say after an accident, that had he worn the seat belt, he would have avoided or suffered lesser injuries.
I have always found the analogy of not using seat belts to the habit of smoking. Most people, even when aware about the health risks, never quit it unless they are encountered with a life threatening health problem, when its too late. But I guess that is the choice that every individual has to make for himself.
Seat belt usage is a habit. If you get used to it once, you will never feel safe without it. Ask anyone who has been using seat belts ! Properly worn seat belts are your best defence in case an accident happens.
Chances are that you might never get into an accident and may never need a seat belt. If you are certain about the answer to this question, then you can decide whether you need a seat belt or no.