Seatbelt statistics and safety tips
- Published: May 18, 2010
It's simple, but there are still some people who forget or do not buckle up. Seat belts save about one thousand lives per year in Canada.
During the first long weekend of spring, RCMP and Alberta Sheriffs handed out 83 seatbelt infractions.
Despite continued education of how important seatbelts are, some people are still not getting the message. Some are not buckling up at all, while others are wearing them improperly.
Buckle up
Wearing your seat belt properly will dramatically increase your chance of surviving a motor vehicle crash.
A seatbelt helps keep:
- The driver behind the wheel and in control.
- Your head and body from hitting the inside of the vehicle.
- You inside the vehicle during a collision, which is better than being ejected through a windshield or door onto the roadway. Without a seatbelt, passengers become high-speed projectiles in a collision.
Although the air bag is a proven and effective safety device, it still doesn't replace a seat belt.
five lives in Canada are saved, according to Transport Canada.
The proper way to wear a seatbelt
A properly worn seat belt gives a driver the best protection in rollover, side impact and head-on collisions by securing the driver in the life space of the vehicle.
- To make sure your seat belt is worn properly, adjust the lap belt so that it fits snugly across your hips and not your abdomen. The shoulder belt should fit snugly across your chest and over your shoulder as it will apply most of the collision or stopping forces across the chest and pelvis.
- Make sure that the seat belt is never twisted when worn; the full width of the belt is required to spread the motor vehicle collision forces across the body.
- Pregnant women must wear seat belts - sit as upright as you can, and wear the lap belt under your abdomen and as low over the hips as possible.
- The shoulder strap should go between your breasts and off to the side above your belly.
