5 MYTH MYTH MYTH 12 EnCompass May/June 2012
myths debunked seat belt I’m a great
driver and have never been in a crash, it won’t happen to me.
FACT On the average,
every one of us can expect to be in a motor vehicle crash once every 15 years.
I’m only going
a short distance and I won’t be driving very fast, so I don’t need my seat belt.
FACT The great major-
ity of accidents occur at less than 40 mph and within 25 miles of home.
If I see a crash is
about to happen, I will brace myself.
FACT Not possible!
Let’s say you weigh 130 pounds and your car is traveling 25 mph. Your effect weight is your body weight (130) mul- tiplied by the car’s speed (25 mph). That’s 3,250 pounds. Even if you could react fast enough, 3,250 is a lot of weight
to brace, especially against outstretched arms and legs.
MYTH I am careful to
make sure my children are in a car seat or wear- ing seat belts because I am responsible for their safety. But, it’s my choice not to wear my seat belt.
FACT A common
cause of death and injury in car crashes are unrestrained passengers landing on other pas-
sengers, many times children. Going back to the Speed x Weight equation, 3,250 pounds is a lot of weight to be landing on you. Statistically occupants being thrown into each other during a crash or even stopping fast cause one out of four injuries to passengers.
MYTH I don’t wear my
seat belt because if my car crashes into deep water or catches on fi re, I will be trapped in the
Think you can push back 3,250 pounds?
car by my seat belt. I’ve heard it’s better to be thrown out of the car.
FACT Car crashes
involving fi re or submer- sion totally only one-half of 1 percent of all traf- fi c crashes. If you are thrown from the car, you are four times more likely to be killed than if you stayed in.
www.AAA.com
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