Put on your seatbelts; they’re lifesavers
Published 12:03 am Wednesday, July 12, 2017
As a young child, riding in the car with my parents was always an adventure.
We’d load up and start heading to our destination.
Once we got to the edge of our rocky driveway, my father would yell back to us and ask whether or not we had our seatbelts on or not.
Being a adolescent and not knowing any better, more times than not I didn’t have my seatbelt over my shoulder.
“Give me a quarter,” my father would say.
I’ve thought about those memories a lot recently, especially after the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency sent out its annual press release letting the media and public know how many died during the Fourth of July Holiday period.
This year, the number of fatalities — eight — struck me.
Out of the eight fatalities, seatbelts were available but not in use in seven of the crashes over the weekend, according to ALEA.
The eight fatal traffic crashes consisted of a pedestrian killed in Madison County, a 12-year-old passenger killed in St. Clair County, and six drivers killed in Baldwin, Cherokee, Escambia, Marshall, St. Clair and Talladega counties, the press release said.
Too many times I have seen a press release come through my email saying that the deceased or injured wasn’t wearing a seatbelt.
Seatbelts, which are made of webbing, which is the part of the seatbelt that comes in contact with the passenger and driver of the vehicle. The webbing softens the shock of an impact. It is made of polyester and woven from about 300 warp strands.
The webbing has a tensile strength sufficient to support approximately three metric tons.
Seatbelts can save lives, so please remember to put them on once you get inside of your car.
They save lives and if a wreck happens, it can probably save your life as well.