3 Reasons to Wear a Seat Belt

3 Reasons to Wear a Seat Belt

Most people are aware of the fragility of human life and wear a seat belt whenever they get in the car to drive, even if just a short distance. According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, approximately 90.4% of adult front-seat passengers used a seat belt in 2021. It is abundantly clear that many of us thankfully understand the importance of wearing a seat belt to protect our lives.

Buckling up is a simple way to prevent fatalities, and at the very least, it also reduces injuries in car accidents. That said, it is entirely possible to still suffer severe injuries with a seat belt on. If you sustained injuries in a crash caused by someone else, seek help from a car accident attorney today. 

Here are three reasons why you should wear a seat belt, though there are many additional benefits of doing so. 

1. Seat belts can save lives. 

We can consider many scenarios where a seat belt provides the security needed to quite literally stay alive, including:

• If your car is skidding, a seat belt will keep you in a position that will better help you regain control of your vehicle.
• In the event of a crash, a seat belt will prevent a person from being ejected from the vehicle.
• Force is more evenly distributed throughout the body so that highly vulnerable areas such as the head, abdomen, or chest aren’t severely impacted.
• A seat belt allows a person to match the speed of the vehicle – if the vehicle stops, you will also stop. Without a seat belt, a person may be ejected from the vehicle or be injured moving at the same miles per hour as the vehicle, even if the car stops.

2. Seat belts can reduce injury. 

A seat belt can reduce fatal injury by 45%, and moderate to critical injury by 50%, for front seat passengers. A common concern is that a seat belt can trap a passenger in a car in the event of a fire or sinking in water. As fear-inducing as these scenarios are, a seat belt takes less than a second to remove–thank goodness. Instead, a seat belt carries a higher probability of protecting a passenger from being knocked out. It also protects the head and spinal cord from injury. And a person’s quality of life is significantly reduced without full use of either.

3. Seat belts can help prevent ancillary costs. 

The loss of life could, sadly, be the ultimate cost of injury from not wearing a seat belt. For those fortunate to sustain only injuries, a person pays in the form of loss productivity professionally and in one’s personal life. Additionally, victims who sustain injuries will have hospital bills and the cost of repairing damage to worry about, adding more stress to an already difficult circumstance. Furthermore, serious injuries can carry a lifetime of costs for ongoing care and maintenance.

Contact Us Today For A Consultation With a Kansas Car Accident Attorney

Prevent injury or death by wearing a seat belt. However, if you have been injured, whether you have worn a seat belt or not, you are entitled to adequate representation that protects your rights. If you have been injured in a car accident, contact us today at Pyle Law to set up a one-on-one consultation to learn more about how you can protect your legal rights today.