Resolve to buckle up
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News from the Lake County Buckle Up Coaltion
LAKE COUNTY — Instead of New Year’s resolutions, make one simple healthy change and stick with it. Take one step toward a healthier you. Here is a simple change that can make the difference between life and death for the people you care about: Buckle your seatbelt each time you get into a vehicle, and make sure that other occupants do the same.
The most common contributing factor to roadway fatalities is failure to buckle up. The best thing you can do to keep from becoming a statistic on Montana’s fatality chart is to wear a seat belt.
Seat belts save lives. Worn properly, they prevent you from being thrown around the inside of a crashing vehicle or, worse, thrown through the windshield and ejected out of the vehicle. Statistics from National Highway Traffic Safety Association show that more than half of all crash fatalities were people who weren’t using seat belts. The numbers are higher for young drivers and passengers nationwide, a staggering 70 percent of fatal crash victims between the ages of 13 and 15 weren’t wearing seat belts.
Even a low speed crash can send an unbelted person careening into the dashboard or side window, resulting in severe head injuries or broken bones. At higher speeds, the possible fates of the unbelted occupant are gruesome. In Montana, single rollover crashes are the most common and ejection from the vehicle because of failure to buckle up is all too often the reason for fatalities.
Ring in this new year with the promise to wear your seat belt, making sure that everyone is buckled up — every trip, every time, short or long distances.
