Seat belts used to be this simple adjustable webbed belt that buckled up around your waist. Hardly anyone ever used them, because the car seats always ate them up. Maybe you’d go digging them out if you were embarking on a long journey, but otherwise, you just went without. Then, lo and behold, studies proved that these things actually could save lives… if they were used. So, about 25 years ago, the individual states began passing laws mandating their use. Recently, though, some states put some “teeth” into that seatbelt law, by permitting law enforcement agents to pull over a driver solely for a seat belt infraction – it used to be that it had to be “tied” to some other violation.
Seatbelts save lives by doing several things, often at once. They give you impact protection and absorb crash forces; and they prevent you from being thrown free of the car. Newer cars have integrated “crumple zones” with seat belts being a part of that system – they render you immobile while the car collapses around you, tucked in nice and safe.
Still, many people still don’t wear seatbelts. “They’re uncomfortable” and “they’re wrinkling my clothes” are two of the most common excuses. But what about the one told about the friend of an uncle related to your mother’s step-brother’s cousin who was thrown free and survived, all because he didn’t wear his seatbelt. Yeah, good one.
Bear this in mind, though, before you get in and don’t buckle up. Your insurance may not cover you, since you chose not to wear your seat belt. In the event of an accident, you’ll be paying for your own medical expenses, even if the accident wasn’t your fault.
Finally, one last argument, someone is waiting for you to come back home, in one piece. Don’t you owe it to them to buckle up?
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