Some people who use seatbelts take them for granted. It might not occur to these individuals that they’re a relatively new invention. First came the lap belt, and then the shoulder harness along with the lap belt arrived a few years later.
Seatbelts are crucial in preventing many serious injuries during car accidents. If you’re in a collision, then finding the right lawyer for car accident damages becomes vital. However, in such an instance, you should also acknowledge that wearing a seatbelt versus not wearing one might prove to be the difference between whether you walk away from the crash or whether you’re carried away on a stretcher.
Let us dive into the role of seatbelts in reducing car accident injuries right now.
The Physics Involved in a Car Accident
There are several different kinds of car wrecks that can occur. Some are usually more dangerous than others. You have the sideswipe collision and the fender bender. You can certainly sustain an injury if such a crash happens, but often, they’re relatively minor.
There are also T-bone collisions, head-to-head car wrecks, and rollover accidents. As you might imagine, these often lead to more serious injuries or even deaths.
Consider one of these accidents, like one where your car rolls over, for instance. If that happens, maybe your vehicle rolled down a highway embankment if another car struck it hard enough.
If that happens, you’re probably going to be airborne for at least a few seconds. In such a situation, there’s no telling how your body is going to be contorted if you’re not wearing a seatbelt.
The Seatbelt Holds You in Place
Simply put, seatbelts save so many lives and prevent so many injuries because they hold your body in place. The lap belt alone was useful, but the combination of the modern lap belt and the shoulder harness is so much safer.
With the seatbelt fastened and the lap belt and shoulder harness working together to reduce your body’s movement at a moment of impact, there is virtually no chance that you’re going to go flying out of your seat. That is probable if you’re not wearing a seatbelt.
If another vehicle hits yours going at a decent rate of speed, your body is going to be contorted dramatically by that impact. You can easily break bones and suffer contusions, cuts, bruises, abrasions, etc.
What Might Happen if You’re Not Wearing a Seatbelt
If you’re not wearing a seatbelt, your body goes through the same thing that a crash test dummy would if it was unrestrained. Regardless of whether you see the other vehicle coming and brace yourself or not, there’s little you can do to stop the momentum being enacted on you by the car that collides with yours. You’re at the mercy of gravity and the immutable forces of physics that decree how your body is going to react.
This is why wearing a seatbelt is so important and why you should never neglect to do it.