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please wear your seat belt

Amanda Lasicki on Saturday, 04 August 2007. Posted in Student Life

not wearing a seatbelt can cost you a lot more than the ticket you get if you get caught. in 2001, 31,910 people were killed in car accidents. sixty percent were not wearing a seatbelt.

seatbelts are designed to secure passengers against harmful movement experienced in a collision or sudden stop. they are intended to reduce injuries by stopping the wearer from hitting things inside the car (including other passengers) and from being thrown from the vehicle.

seatbelts were invented by george cayley in the 1800's. however, most us cars didn't come standard with seatbelts until the 1964 model year and even then they were only in the front. rear seatbelts didn't make an appearance until 1968. as children, we were always told to buckle up, but our parents didn't grow up the same way. we've come a long way since then, but there are more people who still need to learn to use their seatbelt every time they are in the car.

seatbelts saved 13,274 lives in 2001. if all vehicle occupants over the age of four had been wearing a seatbelt, it is estimated that another 7334 lives could have been saved.
in fatal crashes, seventy five percent of all passengers totally ejected were killed. only one percent of those passengers had been wearing seatbelts.
motor vehicle crashes are the leading cause of death for people between the ages of 15 and 24 in the united states.
males aged 16 to 25 are the group least likely to buckle up.
in 2001, 64 percent of all 18 to 34 year old passengers who were killed or severly injured in crashes were not wearing seatbelts. age 35 and older, only 48 percent were not wearing seatbelts.
68 percent of 18 to 34 year old male passengers who were killed or severly injured were not wearing seatbelts. in the same age group, 54 percent of women who were killed or severly injured were not wearing seatbelts.
male teens lag behind female teens in seatbelt use. 18.1 percent of high school males said they rarely or never wore a seatbelt compared to 10.2 percent of high school females.

people who don't use seatbelts can't imagine that they'd ever be involved in a serious car crash. seatbelt users know that accidents are a common occurance and can happen to anyone.
people who don't use seatbelts think that if they are lucky they will be thrown clear. people who wear seatbelts know that ejection is bad news and usually results in death.
people who don't use seatbelts feel safe on short trips but may buckle up on the highway or longer trips. people who wear seatbelts realize most crashes occur near home and on local roads. it's where you spend most of your time driving.
people who don't use seatbelts "forget" to put them on. seatbelt users make buckling up a habit.

always wear your seatbelt. insist that passengers wear theirs as well.
always wear both the lap and shoulder belt.
never slip the shoulder belt behind your body.
never wear the shoulder belt under your arm.
always wear your seatbelt.

it really sucks knowing that the difference between life and death was just one easy movement of reaching over and putting a seatbelt on.

i gathered most of this information from government websites. people ages 15 - 24 are the most likely to die in a car crash,but i think that the are also the least likely to read government websites. maybe posting this information here, where the targeted age group matches up with the one i previously mentioned, it will save somebody's life someday.