By: Taranjit | Last Updated: December 28, 2020
Never! You should always wear your seat belt.
A seat belt plays a very important role in helping to slow your impact or prevent you from hitting the dash or airbag, and in minor crashers or sudden stops, the seat belt works to keep you in your seat and prevents you from flying out through the windshield. And to answer your question that is forming in your head at this moment, no, just airbags are not enough to keep you safe. Airbags were designed to be an added layer of protection, and they cannot fully do their job without the assistance of their good friend the seat belt. So, don’t opt out of buckling up.
How does a seat belt protect you?
Seat belts have crash sensors which are built right in and activate when a crash occurs. These sensors send signals that tell the belt to start tightening around the seat occupant.
But how does the belt know how much to tighten?
The sensors are like the brain and it sends signals to start the tightening, but there are other features in the seat belt that control how much it tightens. Like the force limiter. And, as its name says, they limit how much a belt can tighten around the person. After the seat belt tightens to a certain point, it starts to slowly release the webbing of the belt to start easing the pressure off of the body.
The belt is designed in this way to help in reducing injury to the body from the sudden tightening force. These features are typically found in the front seat belts, and are often lacking in the back seat belts.
Why is it important to wear a seat belt?
Ready for some seat belt stats? Well ready or not, I have already posted them below.
Drivers of all ages:
According to NHTSA, properly using a seat belt (meaning having one strap go across your chest and the other across your lap) has reduced the risk of moderate to severe injuries. The risk was reduced by 45% for fatal injuries, and 50% for moderate to critical injury of front seat passengers. Similarly, the risk was reduced by 60% for fatal injuries, and 65% for moderate to critical injuries of front seat passengers in a light truck.
In 2017, not wearing a seat belt resulted in the death of 47% of people involved in a crash, and ~325 children under the age of 5 were saved during a crash due to the proper use of restraint.
Only 11% of passengers involved in a daytime fatal crash and 15% involved in a nighttime crash survived when unrestrained. That means you have a higher chance of surviving a fatal crash if you buckle up properly.
In 2018, about 90% of both drivers and front seat passengers wore seat belts in the United States, but it has been found that only about 75% of back seat passengers wear a seat belt.
Teenage drivers:
Those between the ages of 16 and 19 are three times more likely to be involved in a crash than someone who is 20 or older. The risk of injury or death can be easily reduced in half by simply wearing a seat belt. It’s not that hard to buckle up and it doesn’t take that long.
Younger vehicle occupants and males are less likely to wear a seat belt in comparison to their counter parts. According to a 2016 nation survey, the reason that passengers are less likely to wear a seat belt when sitting in the back of a vehicle is due to them perceiving it to be much safer back there and not necessary.
Don’t risk it and save your life.
Final Thoughts:
Wearing seat belts should not be a choice, but should be routine every time you get in the car. It should be muscle memory to the point that you are just always in the habit of buckling up.
Comment below how a seat belt protected you.
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