Facts You Should Know about Safety Belts

1. Collisions involving fire or submersion make up less than 1/2 of 1% of all traffic collisions.
2. Your chances of survival in a burning or submerged vehicle are far greater if you are wearing your safety belt because you are most likely to remain conscious and, therefore, more able to escape the vehicle.
3. More than 80% of all collisions occur at speeds less than 40 miles per hour, and three out of four collisions causing death occur within 25 miles of home.
4. Although your lap belt helps, it will not prevent serious injury from striking your head and chest on the steering wheel, dashboard, and windshield. A lap and shoulder belt offer you the best possible protection in the event of a crash.
5. Auto collisions are the number one killer and crippler of children under the age of five.
6. The chances of being killed are almost 25 times greater if you’re thrown from the car.
7. Holding your child in your arms will not protect your child. A 15 pound infant will suddenly weigh 450 pounds because of the forces unleashed in just a 30-mph collision.
8. An unrestricted adult can crush a child held in the arms during a collision.
9. Loose belts do not indicate that the belts are inoperative. Belts manufactured after 1974 utilize an inertia reel that makes the belt system “car sensitive,” meaning that they lock when the car slows down too quickly. These belt systems were designed for passenger comfort.
10. Safety belts offer you the best possible protection in a car crash and, therefore, are your best defense against the drunk driver.
11. A 30-mph head-on collision unleashes forces approximately 20 times the force of gravity (20 G’s). Under these conditions, objects (including passengers) can be thrown forward with a force equal to 30 times their own weight.
12. Small children need special protection. In a collision, a lap belt may put too much pressure on a small child’s hips and abdomen. Car safety seats are designed to distribute crash forces over a large area of the body.
13. Only an approved dynamically crash tested safety designed child car seat can provide adequate crash protection. All such seats conform to Federal Standard 213-80.
14. A child restrained in a car safety seat is better behaved and less likely to distract the driver and create a hazard within the car.

When worn, safety belts do make your trip safer- they do help save lives!

Category:

• Auto tech to drive safely

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