Few people enjoy wearing their seatbelts. Some find them constricting while others just hate wearing them because it is required by law.
Despite the advantages of using a seatbelt, as many as 25% of drivers and passengers refuse to wear them for whatever reason.
Luckily, more and more people are listening to the statistics and realising their need to use this lifesaving device.
The main advantage of using a seatbelt is that it could save your life in a collision or some other form of accident or in situations where there is a need for harsh braking.
Kgasago says, according to scientifically proven statistics, thousands of lives are saved each year as a result of using seatbelts.
In minor collisions, seatbelt usage has proven to reduce the potential injury to drivers and passengers.
He says when you are in a vehicle involved in a minor collision, your body can be thrust forward, causing your head to hit the dashboard or windshield.
With a seatbelt, however, your body is restrained to prevent this from happening.
Phillip de Villiers, service manager at a local car dealer, says all new vehicles have a crash sensor fitted.
This sensor activates the airbag and safety belts when a vehicle crashes or is involved in an accident and prevents serious injuries.
He says it is within split seconds, when in an accident, that the airbag and pretentioners deploy.
This may save your life, therefore he feels it is important to wear seatbelts.
Parents wearing their seatbelt set a good example to their children or younger drivers.
Children learn much of their behaviour by example and when it becomes a habit of wearing a seatbelt they are more likely to do the same when they are driving.
“Seatbelts can prevent occupants of the vehicle from serious injury in five ways,” he adds.
Five-way protection tips of wearing a seatbelt:
n keeps the occupants of the vehicle inside.
It’s clearly a myth that people are better off being thrown clear from the crash.
People thrown from a vehicle are four times more likely to be killed than those who remain inside.
n Restrains the strongest parts of the body.
Restraints are designed to contact your body at its strongest parts.
For an older child and adult, these parts are the hips and shoulders, which is where the seatbelt should be strapped.
n Spreads out any force from the collision.
Lap-and-shoulder belts spread the force of the crash over a wide area of the body.
By putting less stress on any one area, they can help you avoid serious injury.
A shoulder strap also helps keep your head and upper body away from the dashboard, steering wheel, and other hard interior parts of the vehicle should you stop suddenly or be hit by another vehicle.
n Helps the body to slow down. What is it that causes injury? A quick change in speed. Seatbelts help extend the time it takes for you to slow down in a crash.
n Protects your brain and spinal cord.
A seatbelt is designed to protect these two critical areas.
Head injuries may be hard to see immediately, but they can be deadly.
Likewise, spinal cord injuries can have serious consequences.
Kgasago says children are not small adults, they need specialised protection in a moving vehicle as their skeletal structure is different and age, height, and weight determine the safest way for a child to travel.
Here’s how to select the right option for your child:
n Rear-facing child safety seat – children under one year and those who weigh less than 10kg should sit in rear-facing, child safety seats.
The seats should be placed on the back seat of the car.
n Forward-facing child safety seat – children older than one year who weigh more than 10kg should ride in forward-facing child safety seats.
The seat should be placed in the rear of the vehicle until the child reaches the upper weight or height limit of the particular seat. Typically, a child will outgrow a safety seat around age four and once they weigh about 20kg.
n Booster seat – children age four and older who weigh more than 20kg should ride in booster seats.
A child can safely progress to a seatbelt when the belt fits properly across the upper thighs and chest -this is usually at age eight or when they are at least 1.5m tall.
n Seatbelt – when children outgrow their booster seats, they can use seatbelts, but they still should sit in the back of the vehicle.
He claims all children should be riding in the back seat of the car until they are at least 13 years old.
