Did you know that 63% of people killed in car accidents weren’t wearing their seat belts? Or that if everyone wore their seat belts at all times, we could save 5,500 people a year from fatal car accidents? Or that those who don’t wear seat belts and survive car accidents end up paying twice as many hospital bills for the injuries they sustain in the crash?
Although some people say that seat belts are uncomfortable, while others say that they are uncool, the simple fact is that seat belts save lives. Already safety advocates say that seat belts save over 9,000 people a year and could save thousands more. seat belts prevent car accident victims from being ejected from their car during impact – an important difference that saves lives.
In addition, seat belts keep wearers inside the protective metal cage of their car and prevent them from striking the roof or windshield in rollover accidents. Finally, seat belts prevent you from becoming a dangerous projectile in the car that could take the life of another passenger. Also, in many cases including South Carolina and North Carolina, wearing a seat belt is simply the law.
Although all evidence supports the fact that seat belts save lives, people in the Carolinas still often go without them. In North Carolina, 328 people were killed in car accident while not wearing safety belts last year – 58 percent of all fatalities. In South Carolina, 330 people were killed in car accidents not wearing seat belts – a shocking 72 percent of all fatalities statewide last year.