Why Seat Belts Should Be Worn

Antonio Gallmon Due: 10/22/2010

Seatbelts! Click it or Ticket!! Crash! Aah! Sirens! These are sounds that people hear when they get into a car crash. The sounds of police cars and ambulances traumatize people for life. In a case, someone crashes, flees through the windshield out the car, and ends up paralyzed for life. This can happen to anyone at anytime. Situations such as this could be easily avoided by the wearing of a seatbelt. Laws, such as the one in Florida stating that a seatbelt must be worn at all times or it will result in a ticket, was made to prevent these types of Situations. People appreciate these laws because they make the world a safer place and it is always better to be safe than sorry. Other people wouldn’t agree that people should always wear seatbelts. People that have been in a situation where seatbelts have prevented them from being safe in a car accident would say
that in some instances seatbelts do not provide safety and do not prevent injury in a car crash. They may also bring up an incident in which; a seatbelt prevented them fro getting out the car when it caught on fire when crashing. These people fail to take into account the fact that in the case of car accidents, seatbelts prevent about 70 percent of injuries and deaths in accidents. This is also astounding as opposed to the opposing views in which not wearing seatbelts is the cause of more than 63 percent of the deaths and injuries from car accidents. In some instances seatbelts can be unsafe and almost the cause of injuries but according to statistics seatbelts are more safe than unsafe. In other cases, people disagree that seatbelts should be worn at all times, believing that it should totally be up to the person. They say this because, in their opinion, everybody is accountable for their own life. Although it is true that everybody is accountable for his or her own life, it is better to be safe than sorry. With that being said, nobody wants to end up paralyzed or critically hurt in any kind of way due to him or her not wearing a seatbelt. Nobody wants to be thrown out the car, or through the windshield of a vehicle when all they had to do was have this safety band across them, known as the seatbelt, to hold the in the car. People don’t want to wear seatbelts due to simple reasons like it wrinkles up their clothes, its uncomfortable, or it doesn’t look cool. These reasons are extremely simple and unrealistic. It is unbelievable that somebody would be that careless with their life, to not wear a seatbelt just in case and end up hurt. People should rather be uncomfortable or have a wrinkled shirt than have a broken neck or arm any day. Finally, there are numerous things that could happen if seatbelts aren’t worn at all times. For example, the most traumatizing result could be the death of someone in the car accident. The person could be thrown out the car, hit the windshield, or hit another part of the automobile. To bring it to a narrower example, a group of friends are out for a night on the town. None of the comrades in the car are wearing seatbelts. They have the music going and are singing along, joking, and having a good time when suddenly the driver accident runs a stop sign and runs into oncoming traffic hitting a vehicle. The person in the front seat gets thrown out the car resulting in their death, the driver hits his head on the steering wheel resulting in a concussion, and the friend in the back seat flies up and hits the windshield breaking his neck. Now the family and friends of these comrades are upset, sad, and grieving all because they didn’t want to wear their seatbelt. They could have had just a good of time with their seatbelts on, and although the crash may have still happened, the damage would be extremely less. If people do not wear a seatbelt and something actually does happen, they will end u feeling guilty, ashamed, and silly because all they had to do was put on a seatbelt. If the situation were thought about rationally, it would be understood that an abundance of things could happen if a seatbelt is not worn and it would be totally better if the initiative is took to just wear the seatbelt. Seatbelts were made to make cars safer and to prevent an injury or death in the case of a car accident.
Numerous people take situations like this lightly and or for granted. They do not think it could happen to them or anybody they know. Nobody wants to be realistic about the situation. Yes, him or her may be a good driver, and yes it may have never happened to them before, but there is always a possibility. I may take an incident in which it actually happens to them or someone close to them for it to really hit them. However, it shouldn’t come to that. People should want to wear seatbelts because they know it’s a greater chance of them not getting injured, killed, or feeling bad in the end. The statistics show that seatbelts makes the whole situation of a car accident safer as well as better. That is the exact reason why there is a law in every state, except New Hampshire, requiring people to wear seatbelts. Everybody should where a seatbelt because, in the end, there is no way to know what could happen. It is better to be safe than
sorry.