| When the mandatory seat belt law came into | | | | is car accidents. |
| effect in my state of Florida at first I thought it | | | | Another common excuse is that the seat belt is |
| was ridiculous. I mean, who does the government | | | | uncomfortable. This is not a good excuse either. |
| think they are to tell me I have to wear my seat | | | | Seat belts today have a range of adjustments to |
| belt? I obviously wasn't alone; I had a lot of | | | | make them more comfortable no matter what |
| friends who were ticketed for not wearing a seat | | | | size you are. Besides, it isn't nearly as |
| belt. Well, I have to admit that I have probably | | | | uncomfortable as a neck brace, or a coffin. |
| been saved twice from them. The first time I fell | | | | Another thing people say is they have never |
| asleep at the wheel driving home late one night | | | | been in a wreck, that they are a safe driver. |
| from an auto auction and I rolled the car several | | | | Remember my story from above, it wasn't my |
| times and ended up in between pine trees with all | | | | fault when I got hit from behind and even though |
| the windows busted out and half of the roof | | | | I had neck and back injuries because I was hit so |
| caved in. I walked way from it. The second time I | | | | hard I could have very easily been taken away |
| was hit from the rear while driving a full size | | | | with a sheet over my head. The odds are against |
| extra cab truck, the truck was totaled, I had | | | | you, in a 10 year period 80% of drivers will be in |
| injuries but could have been killed. The seatbelt | | | | an accident. |
| kept me from going through the windshield. | | | | Don't think that airbags alone will save you either. |
| Our first notion when we are told that we must | | | | You have probably heard of people being killed by |
| do something or else, is to rebel against those | | | | airbags. It usually happens because the person |
| who are commanding us even though it may be | | | | wasn't wearing their seat belt and the airbag hit |
| for our own good. The statistics speak for | | | | them right in the face at 200 mph. |
| themselves, seat belts save lives. The old excuse | | | | Don't care for your safety? What about the |
| of "If I don't wear a seat belt, I will be thrown | | | | safety of those in the vehicle with you? People |
| clear of the wreckage" doesn't fly. If you get | | | | don't stop to think about that. If you are in the |
| thrown from a vehicle you will probably die or at | | | | car without a seat belt on and you have |
| the least be crippled. In a report from 2002 well | | | | someone in the car with you, particularly a child |
| over 70% of those ejected from a vehicle died | | | | who is smaller, the force of your body being |
| and it was said that of 33,000 passengers killed, | | | | thrown into them could kill them. That fact alone |
| nearly 60% were not wearing seat belts. The | | | | should be enough to make you buckle up. |
| primary cause of death in ages four to thirty four | | | | |