The seat belt is the primary safety equipment placed on all cars since the late 1960s, to help restrain passengers from being thrown out of the vehicle during impact. Over the years, seatbelts have evolved to become the most critical safety gadget in the car. Studies have shown that the use of seat belts reduces vehicle induced fatalities by 60%, and now most countries have made it mandatory for all vehicle occupants to wear seat belts at all times, lest being fined heavily for not having them on.
Below are some seat belt benefits
1. The seat belt holds you snuggly
A seatbelt doesn’t give you enough room to move. The seatbelts have a special mechanism whereby it gets locked upon sudden and strong impact. So, you will not bang against other parts within the car such as the steering wheel, doors or the seat in front of you (for the other riders). The gravity will ask you to bang against these objects, but the seat belt disobeys this rule of gravity.
At times you will take your entire family or friends along with you for a ride. If there are many passengers in the back or front seats, then there is a chance of banging into each other when there is a sudden stop in inertia. Banging heads or other parts may cause serious injuries to fellow riders. But the seat belts protect everyone from such a predicament.
2. During sudden braking
if you are not wearing a seat belt, your face is bound to hit the windshield. The seat belt stops this inertia. If your car is going at 100km/h your face will be saved from the impact. The windshield may fall apart but you will remain safe and seated.
3. Seat belts supplement the effectiveness of airbags.
Airbags are released when there is a collision and protect the driver from banging hard against the steering wheel. If you do not wear the seatbelt then the effectiveness of the airbag is minimized. What this means is that when not wearing a seatbelt you will not be in the perfect driving posture required. Drivers not wearing seatbelts are also thrown out of the car on impact and may bang against other parts or fellow riders causing severe injuries.
4. The seat belt when worn in proper order
Your normal driving posture keeps you seated no matter how hard the impact is. There are many accidents where the driver is thrown out of the car and this can be deadly. When you remain seated, the injuries are a bare minimum.
5. Seat belts protect the pregnant women
When you are driving along with your unborn child always wear the seat belt low and right against the abdomen. Upon a crash, it drops down.
Some sceptics opine that wearing seatbelts could prove deadly when a car catches fire or is submerged. If you remain alert then you may get out of such situations unhurt, even after wearing a seatbelt. Statistics suggest that less than 1% of total accidents caused annually result in submersion or fire. Always remember to buckle up to avoid heavy fines for not having your seat belt on and more so for your own safety and the safety of others as well.
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