Wearing a seatbelt is the most important thing you can do when driving or riding in a vehicle – no matter where you are seated in a car. Failure to buckle in is a factor in more auto accident fatalities than any other safety-related action. As Car Accident Lawyers, we know this as well as anyone. “The most important thing you can do in any vehicle at any time is wear your seat belt in all seating positions,” says Michele Fields, general counsel at the Insurance Institute. A seatbelt can not only protect you from severe injury, but protect other passengers in the vehicle as well.
A safety belt can not only save your life, but also younger occupants. Adults, your decision to wear a seat belt directly correlates with whether your children will use them. According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, when an adult is buckled, 94 percent of the time children in that car are also buckled. When the adult is unbuckled, the percentage of children who are buckled drops to 30 percent. A seat belt is very important to the safety of a child in the event of an accident; unrestrained children are 4.2 times more likely to be killed in an auto accident than a child wearing a seat belt. Studies show less than one percent of children buckled in were killed in a crash.
Besides the obvious risk of injury for children not restrained, those failing to use a safety belt are also a hazard to the front seat drivers in the event of an accident. Major injury to front seat drivers can be caused by the back seat riders being thrown forward in a crash. Those in the back seat can essentially become lethal projectiles in an accident. Proper use of a seat belt can save your life, as well as your family’s’. Please make sure you do your part to ensure everyone is buckled in. If you or a loved one has been seriously injured in an auto accident, please call our Car Accident Lawyers at Rutter Mills Law Firm. We will give you the help you deserve.