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Seatbelts DO Save Lives!Sep 28 '00 Write an essay on this topic.I've hesitated writing this review for the past week, knowing that there have been many other reviews written about the same subject. However, if my review helps one person make the decision to wear a seatbelt next time they get into a car, then I consider this review well worth it. I have been driving for almost 20 years, and during that course of time have been involved in 2 very minor accidents, both times I was wearing a seatbelt and both times I was not injured. I have been a firm believer in seatbelts since I received my license in 1981, after hearing lecture upon lecture from both of my parents. Each and every time I am in a vehicle - whether I am driving or a passenger I immediately put my seatbelt on. In fact, when I am driving, I will not even start my vehicle until all the occupants in my car have their seatbelts on. I have heard way too many stories from people I have known who have been involved in accidents & who were not wearing seatbelts, that no matter what the circumstance - my seatbelt is on. Early last week, my daycare provider (and good friend) was involved in a very serious car accident, on her way home from her Doctor's office. It was a very rainy day and the roads were quite slick. Though she has no memory of the accident itself, from what she has heard from both the police officers, EMT's & Firemen that responded to the accident, she was broadsided on the passenger side of her small pickup truck. The truck was spun around in the middle of the road & struck again in the rear section of the passenger side. The driver of the other vehicle, who was driving a Minivan received minor scrapes & bruises; while my friend received very serious injuries. When the Firemen & EMT's arrived, she was unconscious and trapped inside the mangled truck. It took the Firemen almost 45 minutes to remove her from the vehicle, on which they had to use the "Jaws of Life" Her face had been cut severely by the shattered glass of the driver's window as her head slammed against it. She had bitten all the way through the side of her mouth, causing a big gash and her ear was cut so deeply and so badly that it was practically amputated. My friend was transported by ambulance to a nearby trauma center, where it was determined she also had some type of bleeding in her skull. Luckily, shortly after arriving at the hospital, she regained consciousness. She remained at the hospital overnight after the Physician determined that the bleeding in her skull had stopped and that she had no life threatening injuries. The day that she was released from the hospital, she spoke with one of the EMT's that had been at the scene the day of the accident. He told her: "Ma'am I just want you to know, that I am very thankful you were wearing your seatbelt, had you not been wearing it you would have surely been killed". Though it will take my friend several months to recover from all her cuts and bruises, she will be fine, because she wore her seatbelt. Backtrack to 3 years ago, when a very close friend of mine from Pennsylvania decided to visit her daughter in Florida who was expecting her 2nd child in just a few more weeks. My friend brought her daughter in law, 3 grandchildren and her mother along on the trip. They had been looking forward to this trip for many months, as they wanted to all be there for the birth of my friend's grandchild. Being a little on the impatient side, my friend decided that she would drive from Western Pennsylvania to Florida, without spending the night in a Hotel along the way. They did stop several times, though for "potty breaks", meals, drinks and gas. As my friend and her family made their way into South Carolina, she lost control of the minivan she was driving. Whether it was due to road conditions, speed, maybe falling asleep at the wheel, no one quite knows as she has no recollection of the accident. As her minivan flipped over several times and my friend was ejected out of the minivan onto the shoulder of the road. Her daughter in law (who was also pregnant)- who was sitting in the passenger side of the front seat, was immediately ejected from the van - her body slamming into a telephone pole killing her and her unborn child instantly. My friend's grandaughter who was around 1 1/2 years old and in a car seat or carrier was ejected in her car seat out onto the middle of the road, scraping her head and face. Two of her other grandchildren (ages 3 & 8) who were in the very back of the van, remained in the vehicle, one of them suffering a broken leg, the other a broken arm & shoulder blade. My friend's mother also remained in the van, and in fact had to be removed from the van along with her grandchildren by the EMT's that responded to the scene. Not one person in that van was wearing a seatbelt. It made me sick as I thought of my friend's daughter in law & her unborn child, their lives taken away that quick, because of pure stupidity. It made me sick to think of all the pain and suffering that my friend would now deal with realizing that had she insisted that each and every person in that vehicle wear a seatbelt, that perhaps the injuries would have not been so severe. In just a matter of moments, my friend's life changed drastically. Not only did she lose a daughter in law, who was also a best friend of hers, but she also lost one of her unborn grandchild. Several weeks after the accident, my friend also lost her mother, who succumbed to the severe trauma she received because of the accident. My friend's daughter, went into labor, upon hearing of the accident. She managed, somehow to make it to the hospital where most of her family were located, and several hours later gave birth to a healthy baby girl that she named after her now deceased sister in law. I have visited my friend several times since the accident and over & over again she has told me that if only she could go back in time, she would have made sure that everyone, including herself, in that minivan that day would have buckled up. "Buckling up" only takes a very small amount of time, and though some may consider it an inconvenience (including my husband) and not necessary, it has proven over and over again to be a life saver. I have heard of several incidents where the seatbelts actually may have led to worse injuries and even fatalities during an automobile accident, but those stories are few and far between. Please - the next time you get behind the wheel of a car, truck, motorhome, etc., please make sure that you and everyone else in your vehicle buckles up!  |
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